Kitsune Bi
by Ookami Kasumi
Summary: xXxHolic / Being chased by nasty spirits with the intent to devour him was merely a fact of Watanuki Kimihiro's strange life. He was about to discover that amorphous spirits weren't the only ones hungry for his flesh. Doumeki x Watanuki YAOI
1. Chapter 1

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

_**Note:**_ You do not have to be familiar with the series to follow the story.

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_**Chapter One**_

* * *

Watanuki Kimihiro's Monday morning began normally enough. Well, as normally as any school day morning had begun since he'd come to stay in the time-space witch's sprawling and magically-infested mansion.

Yawning hugely, Kimihiro sat up and absently tugged at his sleeping robe to straighten it. _Gods, did morning __**have**__ to come so damned early_? He crawled out from under the butterfly embroidered curtains of his four-poster bed and collected his wire-frame glasses from the night-table. A quick look at the clock told him that he had exactly two hours before he had to leave for school.

Scratching sleepily in unmentionable places, he padded barefoot across the hardwood floor pondering his internal to-do list. _Shower, clothes, make the lunches, make the breakfast..._ He stopped at the decorative stool by the thoroughly western en suite bathroom door to collect the white shirt and dark pants of his school's summer uniform, then carried them into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

After a quick shower in the gleaming glass and chrome shower stall, Kimihiro slid into his clothes and stood before the mirror over the sink to comb his short-cropped black hair into some semblance of order, not that it ever did any good. His ultra-fine, fly-away hair had a nasty tendency to defy gravity and curve upward for no apparent reason what so ever.

While buttoning his short-sleeved white uniform jacket over his white t-shirt, he glanced at his at his right eye. The color was definitely off. It looked aqua greenish compared to the deep slate blue of his other eye. He sighed heavily. Since accepting half of Doumeki Shizuka's golden brown eye to restore sight to the eye that had been stolen by the Spider Queen, his eyes had not matched, though no one seemed to have noticed the color change.

Then again, no one ever noticed the things he did. He sighed heavily._Life would be so much easier if everyone else could see spirits too._ Briefly, he wondered how much Yuuko would charge for that wish to be granted.

He lifted his chin and peered at his jaw-line. _Still no whiskers._ Not even a shadow of a mustache. He ground his teeth in annoyance. He was seventeen years old, but his face was still as smooth as a child's. Even his eyebrows were wrong, all slender, and arched. He glared at his face. It just wasn't right. A guy shouldn't have eyebrows that looked so…so…feminine.

Doumeki was only one month older, but he had decently masculine eyebrows. What was worse, Kimihiro was absolutely sure that he was already shaving.

Yet more reasons to be annoyed with the disgustingly handsome brute.

"Why is it that he's so damned blessed? We're the same freaking age, and practically the same height, yet he's got muscles and facial hair…"

And body hair.

Kimihiro's face filled with sudden heat. It was his biggest and most shameful secret. At seventeen, he no more body hair than he'd had back in grade-school; not under his arms, or even…down there.

Some of his classmates had already remarked on his nearly complete lack of leg hair during PE. For that reason alone, he detested wearing shorts. God help him, if anyone ever found out that he didn't have any…down there. He'd taken to being very careful to shower alone after PE.

He swiftly finished buttoning his white uniform jacket up to the throat in the proscribed manner, unlocked the door, then practically ran out of the bathroom. He really needed to stop looking into mirrors. It was not doing his temperament any good.

He dropped his neatly folded sleeping robe on the stool, stepped into the house-slippers to cover his stocking feet, and left his assigned room to pad down the polished wood floor of the narrow back hallway toward the kitchen.

He was very careful to watch for the right landmarks. _Let's see, right turn at the table with the orange begonia plant against the left corner… Right turn in the cross hallway with the rectangular teal throw rug, not the round one… Left turn at the silk hanging banner with three yellow butterflies, not four…_ Since he'd started actually living there, he'd gotten lost coming from his bedroom more times than he really cared to admit. He rolled his eyes. Anyone would get confused in a half traditional Japanese, half turn-of-the-century Victorian building that was literally neither here nor there.

Kimihiro found the kitchen and celebrated with a small crow of triumph. Grabbing the plain white smock from the hook just inside the kitchen door, he strode across the screamingly modern kitchen to the massive refrigerator against the left wall. While perusing the contents for what to make for lunch, he shrugged into the short-sleeved smock and dug the matching kerchief from the front pocket. Tying the kerchief over his head, he calculated the refrigerator's contents verses Himawari-chan and Doumeki's appetites. Making a firm decision, he collected what he thought would be tasty and carried the whole pile to the island cabinet in the kitchen's center. He refused to even consider what Doumeki had requested on Friday, even though he'd collected those ingredients too.

He had breakfast simmering on the stove and two of the three black lacquered bento boxes packed for lunch when the kitchen door slid open with a slam.

A childishly sweet voice practically screamed from the door. "Good morning Watanuki, spelled April first!"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes heavenward. Of course, Mokona would be first to the kitchen. For a creature barely large enough to fill both his hands, long slender rabbit ears not-withstanding, he had a monstrous appetite. Then again, ninety percent of his tiny body was his mouth. "Good morning pork bun."

Mokona burst out in sudden high-pitched laughter.

It wasn't nearly warning enough.

Something long, slender, furry, and surprising strong wriggled up Kimihiro's right pant-leg to slide up over his butt, and then further up under the back of his shirt trailing shivers and goose-bumps every inch of the way.

Kimihiro howled in surprise and danced clear across the kitchen, grabbing for the ticklish thing, but wasn't nearly fast enough to catch the snake-like white pipe-fox. "Gyaaa! _Will_ you _stop_ that?"

"He just wants to say good morning too." The voice was smooth, languorous, sensual, and distinctly amused.

Kimihiro spared a very fast glance toward the tall, sleek, cinnamon-eyed woman whose layers of butterfly patterned morning robes were already sliding from her shoulders. Her knee-length, jet black hair was pinned up in loose yet graceful loops by her ears. He twisted all the way around, reaching for the elusive fox. "I know that, but does he _have_ to do it by _tickling me to death_?"

The slender fox came up out of Kimihiro's clothes, looped itself around Kimihiro's throat, rather like a slender, furry scarf, and proceeded to lap Kimihiro's cheek with its tiny tongue.

Kimihiro gave one last hard shiver, then sighed and stroked the fox's tiny head with his finger. "Good morning to you, Mugetsu, _No Moon_."

The pipe-fox cooed and slid out of Kimihiro's clothes.

Kimihiro sighed in relief and turned to face the mistress of the house. "And good morning to you too, Yuuko-san. Breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes." Spotting a fast moving slender white blur followed by a fast bouncing black blur, Kimihiro stepped sharply to the right, barely dodging Mokona and Mugetsu's sudden game of tackle-tag. Kimihiro waved the spatula at the two blurs. "Oi! Not in the kitchen!"

Yuuko clapped her hands and laughed. "It's so wonderful seeing you every morning!"

Kimihiro turned toward the mistress of the house. "Don't you mean it's so good seeing someone cooking your breakfast every morning, Yuuko-san?"

Yuuko smiled slyly. "But of course!" She left the kitchen doorway trailing laughter.

Kimihiro raised his hands heavenward. "What did I ever do in my past life to deserve being a live-in housekeeper?" He turned back to the stove convinced that whatever it was that he'd done in his former life, had to have been _really_ bad.

Sitting around the low table before the open doors leading to the back garden, Kimihiro served food and parried cheerful jibes while fighting to keep what was on his own plate from disappearing down a fuzzy black gullet. "Mokona! That's _my_ breakfast! You have your own!"

The black bunny-creature delivered an enormous pout. "But I ate it all, already!" He snatched Kimihiro's toast with his tiny paw-hands.

"Oi!" Kimihiro grabbed for his toast. A small wrestling tug of war ensued. "Finishing yours doesn't mean that mine is up for grabs!"

Yuuko's surprisingly girlish giggles filled the morning air. "Ah, Mokona loves your cooking so much, he can't get enough!"

"Yes, I can see that!" Kimihiro finally wrestled his toast from the squinty-eyed, animated pork bun and popped it into his mouth. Gulping down the dregs of his tea with one hand, he collected the breakfast dishes with the other. There was just enough time to get them washed before he had to leave for school. "Do you know what you want for dinner?"

"Yes indeed!" Yuuko clasped her hands together and called out something that Kimihiro was pretty sure he'd seen a recipe for in one of Yuuko's extensive supply of cookbooks. "The money for the shopping will be on the kitchen counter when you return from school."

Kimihiro nodded. He'd expected to have to do some shopping.

Yuuko threw up her hands. "And I have just the right wine to go with it!"

Kimihiro groaned loudly. "You have just the right wine for everything!" It looked like was going to have to stop by the pharmacy for more of her hang-over medicine too.

"Not everything…" Her full bottom lip stuck out. "Sometimes I have to make do with sake!" She grinned and winked at Mokona.

Mokona giggled and bounced on his seating cushion. "Sake! Sake!"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Wine, wine, wine and sake… Can't you have _tea_ with your dinner once in a while?"

"I do!" She smiled broadly. "Once in a while." She waved a hand. "Oh, and make sure you walk back with Doumeki!"

Kimihiro felt every hair on his body lift. _Him_, again. His spine stiffened so hard, he almost dropped the dishes, almost. "I can walk back _by myself_ you know! I'm not _completely_ helpless!"

Yuuko's smile evaporated, and her cinnamon eyes leveled. "Watanuki…"

Kimihiro shook his head firmly, dodging her gaze. "Doumeki has archery practice for a competition." He turned away, the dishes so firmly in hand his knuckles were white. "If I wait, I can't go shopping. The grocery stores will be closed by the time he finishes with practice."

Yuuko arose elegantly from the table. "Watanuki…"

"I _don't_ need _him_!" He turned away and stomped down the hallway clutching the dishes. "I'm not a_ girl_, damn it! I _don't_ need an_ escort_ after school _every_ single day…!" He slammed the kitchen door open and stomped in. "Nothing dangerously weird has come after me in nearly a month…!" He practically slammed the dishes into the sink, then turned the water on full force. "That hulking brute walks me home so damned much already, you'd think he was _my boyfriend_!" He scrubbed with the bristle-brush using every ounce of strength he possessed. "Himawari-chan already thinks we're best friends!" They were most certainly_ not_ friends of any kind; they were rivals -- _RIVALS_! Couldn't anyone get that through their thick skulls?

Except that he owed Doumeki for his life yet again. He owed him for the very blood that currently flowed in his veins.

The anger turned cold and flat in Kimihiro's chest. _Why…? Why does he keep doing that?_ The first time Doumeki had saved him, he'd sprained his arm keeping Kimihiro from a face-dive from off the top of a school. That was the reason Kimihiro had started to make him lunches. Other incidents had followed, lots of others, so the lunches had continued.

Kimihiro groaned and wiped his brow with the back of one hand. _It's obvious that he doesn't like me any more than I like him so, why does he keep…doing such dangerous things to help me?_ It just didn't make any sense!

Yuuko swept into the kitchen, her long inky hair and shimmering robes wafting after her. "I'd rather you wait for Doumeki to walk with you tonight. In fact I insist."

Kimihiro stiffened, his shoulders hunching with the rage that swept up and burned in the back of his skull. I'm not that helpless, damn it! I'm_ not_! He ground his teeth and gripped the bristle-brush like a weapon. "I…!"

Except that Yuuko had a nasty habit of knowing when bad things were going to happen.

With monumental effort, he sucked in a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Is there a_ reason_ why he should walk me home tonight?"

"Yes." The word was delivered hard and flat.

_There was…?_ Kimihiro's heart froze, then slammed hard in his chest. _Bad things… Bad things… Bad things... _Cold sweat prickled down his spine. He stomped down his fear with cold hard anger. _I refuse! I refuse to be afraid!_ He whirled around brandishing his dripping scrub brush as though it were a demon-slaying sword. "What possible reason…?"

The doorway was empty. Yuuko was gone.

Lunch time found Kimihiro walking around to the back of the school carrying the three lacquered wood bento boxes wrapped in a large cloth in one hand, and the thermos of chilled jasmine tea in the other.

Himawari was already at their chosen spot under the tree. She knelt on the small picnic blanket, neat and prim in her stark black skirt and white summer top, while talking cheerfully to her tiny bright yellow bird, Tanpopo, _Dandilion_. The ultra-feminine black coils of her sumptuous mane spilled down her back and tumbled down around her lap. Two small coiling tails bound with yellow bows framed either side of her impishly sweet face.

Kimihiro couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. _So cuuute!_ Himawari was everything a pretty girl should be, and she was just as sweet as she appeared. He waved. "Himawari-chan, I have your lunch!"

If only she didn't have that…condition.

Himawari looked over at Kimihiro and her smile was as bright as the sun. "Ah, Watanuki-kun!"

The tall, broad-shouldered, and pointedly masculine form of Doumeki came from around the opposite corner of the building. His short-cropped black hair gleamed blue in the sunlight. He was dressed in the white _keiko-gi_ top and ground-sweeping black _hakima_ trousers of his Kyudo, archery club uniform. Apparently, he'd spent the last period at the archery range. He was talking on his cell phone, or rather, grunting into it. His gaze was somewhere off in the distance and lips were turned slightly downward.

Kimihiro sighed. That was Doumeki for you. He appeared to only ever show one of two expressions, if he had an expression, an almost-scowl, or an almost-smirk. Of the two, the smirk was worse; it was downright disturbing.

Doumeki's gaze found Kimihiro's and his golden eyes narrowed.

Kimihiro felt the small hairs on his arms lift. _He's staring at me in that creepy way again._ It was enough to very nearly sour Kimihiro's appetite.

Yuuko had once asked him, "What don't you like about Doumeki?"

Kimihiro couldn't very well tell her… "Because he stares at me like, he wants to hit me or do something…else, something embarrassing and vulgar. When he smirks, it's worse. It's like, he's laughing at me, and **about** to do something vulgar. On top of that, when he actually talks what he says never goes with the look on his face. And he does it all the damned time!"

It sounded stupid even in his thoughts.

He turned away to unwrap the bento boxes, slapped on a sunny smile strictly for Himawari, and offered her a box. "Here you go Himawari-chan!"

Smiling, Himawari took the box from Kimihiro without making any physical contact. "Thank you, Watanuki-kun!"

"You are very welcome, Himawari-chan." Watanuki sighed in contentment and pulled out the small plastic cups for the tea. Lunch with sweet, adorable, completely predictable Himawari was the highlight of his entire day.

Doumeki strode up to stand before Kimihiro and his voice deepened to a base growl. "I see. Of course. Thank you, Yuuko-san."

Kimihiro looked up at his nemesis and his mouth fell open in shock. Doumeki was talking to _Yuuko_? The iced tea he was pouring spilled slightly over his hand. Startled, he grabbed for a paper napkin to wipe at the small mess. He knew, he just knew, Yuuko had told Doumeki to walk him back. _That conniving, controlling, over-protective…_

Doumeki snapped the small phone closed, and tucked it into the front fold of his gi. He held out his hand, clearly asking for the bento at Kimihiro's side.

_Selfish bastard…_ Furious, Kimihiro shoved the bento box at him.

Doumeki took the box from Kimihiro's hands and his gaze narrowed on Kimihiro's face. "Do I need to tell you what she said?"

"No! No, you don't, and I _don't_ want to hear it!" Kimihiro turned away and flopped cross-legged onto the spread blanket at Himawari's side. He would not, would not, look at him. "I_don't_ need a freaking baby-sitter!" He pried open his bento box, determined to eat and enjoy some cheerful conversation with Himawari.

Doumeki moved to Kimihiro's immediate right and stepped into the space between Kimihiro and Himawari. He settled cross-legged on the blanket with a grunt, seating himself between them.

Watanuki rolled his eyes. One might suppose that Doumeki was merely keeping the two from coming into accidental physical contact, which would trigger Himawari's rather volatile and highly dangerous condition. However, Watanuki knew for a fact that Doumeki had done it simply to annoy him.

Doumeki turned and his golden gaze locked on Kimihiro's. He was so close Kimihiro could actually feel his body heat. The scent of soap and temple incense drifted from him. "Yuuko thinks you do."

Kimihiro felt his hackles lift. He scooted back, away from Doumeki's unnervingly warm presence. "That's her! Not me!"

His gaze narrowed to hard gold slits. "Are you a fortune-teller?"

_Fortune-teller?_ Kimihiro stared at him. _What the hell…?_ "No! Of course not!"

"I'll come get you after class." He turned away to pry open his flat black lunch box. "I'll get the instructor to let you wait while I practice."

Kimihiro stared at him open mouthed. "What? No! I said I don't want to wait…!"

Doumeki picked up the chopsticks and started shoveling food into his mouth with one hand. He plugged the ear on Kimihiro's side with the pinky finger of the other. Clearly, Doumeki was not listening.

Kimihiro ranted and raved until he was red in the face.

Doumeki continued to eat with one ear plugged.

Kimihiro added kicks and gestures to his gripes and complaints, and even tried writhing on the ground.

Doumeki turned to face Kimihiro with absolutely no expression on his face what so ever. "You gonna eat that?" He pointed at Kimihiro's full bento box with his chopsticks.

Kimihiro grabbed for his food. "Yes I am!" He snatched up his chopsticks and stabbed it into his box blindly. Glaring at the larger boy, he shoved the piece of food into his mouth and chewed with extra emphasis.

Himawari burst into giggles.

Still completely expressionless, Doumeki held out his hand. "Tea."

Kimihiro reached for the thermos and a tea cup then froze. _Son of a bitch! Who does he think I am, his damned wife? _He turned to glare at the overgrown pain in his ass.

Doumeki continued to hold out his hand, his gaze unwavering and clearly expectant.

Kimihiro handed him the cup of tea.

Doumeki took the cup of tea, and the slightest of satisfied smiles curved the very edge of his mouth.

A hard shiver skittered up Kimihiro's spine. He jerked his gaze away. He hated it when Doumeki looked at him like that; like he'd done something both pleasing, and perverted at the same time.

Doumeki's gaze drifted down to his teacup, and in a completely emotionless voice, he announced what he'd like for tomorrow's lunch.

Kimihiro very nearly threw his bento box at him. "I do not, _not,__**NOT**_ take orders from you!"

Doumeki's reply was yet another of those smug half-smirks.

Himawari's giggling and Tanpopo's amused chirping did not make Kimihiro feel any better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

* * *

_**Chapter Two**_

* * *

The school chime echoed loudly in the classroom, marking the end of classroom lessons, and the beginning of school club activities.

Kimihiro grabbed his scattered notes, text books, papers, pens, and other whatnot, and shoved everything into his slender briefcase as fast as he could. He had to be out of there before Doumeki could show up and drag him off to the archery club. Come hell or high water, he was going home, damn it, by himself!

He'd agreed to stay at Yuuko's, but there were still things that needed attending to at his apartment, such as disposing of the last of the food wasting away in his cabinets. He'd already cleaned out the refrigerator. On top of that, he really needed to collect more underwear and some of his jeans and t-shirts. He wore his uniforms during the week, but he really didn't like walking around in nothing but decorative kimonos on the weekends. The robes he'd taken to wearing around her house were lovely and comfortable, unbelievably comfortable, but they just didn't look…masculine.

Though kimonos looked plenty masculine on Doumeki's broad shouldered form.

_Stop thinking about him!_ Snarling in sheer frustration, Kimihiro finally succeeded in jamming everything into his briefcase and buckling it closed. He lunged up from his chair and bolted for the classroom door. All he needed was his outdoor shoes from his locker and he was free! He lunged through the open door…and was brought to a choking halt by the collar of his uniform. He barely held back his startled shriek. _Oh gods, what's got me now?_

"Oi."

_What?_ Kimihiro twisted around to stare wide-eyed at Doumeki, already out of his school uniform and dressed in the white _keiko-gi_ top and black _hakima_ trousers of his archery clothes. Doumeki's altogether too large hand was fastened to his jacket collar.

Fury heated Kimihiro's cheeks and stiffened his spine. "My name is not 'oi'!" He grabbed for his jacket collar and tugged. "Let go of me!"

Doumeki, inclined his head up the hallway. "The archery range is this way." He did not let go.

Kimihiro crossed his arms, his briefcase shielding his belly. "You can do as you like, I'm going home, so let go."

Doumeki's gaze hardened to cold brass. "I will not have you endangering yourself again."

Kimihiro blinked. "You? _You_ will not…?" He sucked in a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Who the hell are_you_ to say what _I_ can, or can not do? You are not my father, or even my brother!" He whapped at the hand gripping the back of his collar.

Doumeki leaned back, away from Kimihiro's flailing hand, without releasing his collar. His brows lowered and his jaw visibly tightened. "You have my blood, that's close enough."

Kimihiro froze in utter shock. _What?_ Doumeki did not just say that. He scowled. "Are you trying to use guilt on me?"

Doumeki's brow lifted. "Would tying you up work better?" His evil smirk suddenly appeared.

Watanuki felt the blood leave his face. "You wouldn't…"

Doumeki reached into the front of his gi shirt and pulled out a slender bright blue obi chord complete with tassels.

Abruptly, the ground shifted under Kimihiro's feet and his imagination suddenly filled with extremely graphic hentai images from a website he'd accidentally accessed late one night. The site had been nothing but photographs of nude women tied up in strange and overly exposed positions.

He shook his head to clear it, but it did nothing for the heat that was suddenly flooding his limbs, and spilling downward. He clutched his briefcase against his stomach, but curled his lip and spoke in his most sarcastic tone. "What? Are you into kinky bondage or something?"

Doumeki's smirk didn't even waver. "I'm very good with knots."

Good with _knots_? Did this mean he'd _practiced_? Doumeki had always spooked him with his far too direct stares and unpredictable pronouncements, but this was… This was _perverted_. A warm, syrupy, oddly exciting sensation spread through his limbs and began spilling downward. "Let me go." His voice came out embarrassingly high and breathless.

Doumeki nodded and released Kimihiro's collar. "This way." He turned to stand facing up the hallway, but his gaze remained focused on Kimihiro.

Kimihiro looked back the other way, toward the doors, and freedom. He could make a run for it? He looked back at Doumeki.

Doumeki slid the blue cord through his fingers, smoothly folding it in half then turning it inside out to form a loop. His lips curved upward into a definite smirk, nothing halfway about it this time, and his entire body tensed.

Kimihiro stared, shocked to the core. "You actually _do_ want to tie me up." He slapped his hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Doumeki didn't say anything at all, and his expression did not change.

Kimihiro swallowed hard. Doumeki hadn't denied it. _Crap…_ He really, really, really didn't like the way all this was making him feel. He hated the apprehension that chilled his blood, but he hated the weirdly exciting, and altogether terrifying sensations beginning to stir, and tighten in…unmentionable places even more.

It pissed him off.

Kimihiro stabbed a finger toward his tormentor. "Look, you big, overgrown, perverted brute, I don't take orders of any kind from_you_!"

Doumeki nodded and began walking up the hallway toward the archery range.

Kimihiro marched right after him. "Don't you walk away from me when I'm yelling at you…!" Snarling invectives every step of the way, Kimihiro followed Doumeki all the way out to the fenced in archery range, past the instructor speaking to a small group of archery students, and under the roofed area where the archers stood to shoot.

Doumeki pointed at a pile of hay bales against the back wall. "Sit, and be quiet."

Kimihiro frowned at the hay bales. "What the hell am I supposed to do here for the next two hours?"

Doumeki shrugged. "Take a nap?" He turned and strode away.

Kimihiro stared after him. "A nap?"

Doumeki walked over to a tall cloth case leaning against the wall and withdrew a very long bow that was already strung. "Yeah, that's what I'd do." He stepped alongside a hay bale stabbed full of what appeared to be, owl-feather fletched arrows, tugged one free and set it to his bow. He glanced back at Kimihiro. "Now be quiet. The sooner I finish my practice, the sooner we go."

Kimihiro sighed heavily and sat down. What else could he do, really? The hay bale was dry and certainly much more comfortable than Yuuko's hardwood floors. Slouching against the back wall, Kimihiro settled back to wait.

Watching Doumeki hit the target with arrow after arrow was very interesting for all of five minutes, then his eyes began to drift closed. Maybe he should take a nap?

The scent of tobacco snapped Watanuki from his stupor.

Sitting on the hay bale beside Kimihiro was a smiling man practically identical in appearance to his nemesis, except for the smile, the formal green and gold kimono, and the cigarette. "Hello Watanuki-kun."

Kimihiro looked over to see Doumeki still shooting his arrows, but there seemed to be a slight fog between them. _A dream…?_ He turned and eyed the smiling man. It had to be a dream, as Doumeki's grandfather, Haruka, was dead and he only appeared in Kimihiro's dreams. "Hello, Haruka-san."

Haruka waved his lit cigarette in Doumeki's general direction. "I see Shizuka is taking his guardian duties quite seriously."

Kimihiro stared at him, then scowled. "I don't need a freaking guardian!"

Haruka's smile slid away. "Don't you?"

Kimihiro looked away and folded his arms over his chest. "Okay, so occasionally, I do need…a little help."

Haruka folded one leg over the other and tilted his head. "Is it so hard to accept…a little help?"

Kimihiro winced. "Well no, but he's…" He waved his hand toward the obliviously shooting Doumeki. "And I'm…" He waved his hand toward himself. "We're both…" He threw up both his hands and shook his head. "For crying out loud, we're classmates! It's just not right!"

Haruka sighed. "I suppose that being watched over by someone your own age is a bit…uncomfortable."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "That is a severe understatement." He turned and shot a narrow look at Doumeki's grandfather. "By the way, did you know that your grandson is a pervert?"

Haruka stared wide eyed, then burst out into howling laughter. Tears streaked down his cheeks.

Kimihiro folded his arms across his chest and ground his teeth. "I'm glad _you're _finding it funny."

Haruka wiped his eyes and gasped for breath. "Wait, wait… What did he do?" His laughter eased, but his grin nearly split his face. "Did he kiss you, or something?"

_Kiss me…?_ Watanuki cringed back. "Gods, no!" He waved his hands to erase the image before it could form. "He just threatened to tie me up!"

Haruka blinked, then snorted. "Oh, is that all?"

"Is that _all_?" Kimihiro couldn't believe Haruka's total lack of concern. "No, that wasn't _all_! He was_smirking _as he said it! He really _did_ want to tie me up. Me! He had a rope ready to do it with too, well an obi cord, but still…!"

Haruka shrugged. "Oh, well, he's been tying up his toys since he was little…"

Watanuki threw out his hands. "I am _not_ a _toy_!"

Haruka smiled and continued as though Watanuki hadn't spoken. "…It only makes sense that he'd want to do that with his lovers too."

Kimihiro choked. "What…?" Why was Haruka-san mentioning lovers?

Haruka's brows lifted. "You've never heard of adults tying each other up during love play?"

Kimihiro's mouth fell open. _Love play?_ Well okay, but… "Haruka-san, that still doesn't explain why he wanted to tie _me_ up!"

Haruka leaned close and his smile suddenly drifted into the smirk Kimihiro had only ever seen on Doumeki Shizuka's lips. "Watanuki-kun, in case you haven't noticed, you are a very beautiful boy."

Kimihiro recoiled as though he'd been scalded. Was Haruka implying that Doumeki thought he was…_pretty_? He waved his hands to erase the thought. _Impossible!_ Guys did not think about other guys that way. Unless… He frowned at Doumeki's grandfather. "Haruka-san, are you saying that Doumeki is…gay?"

"I don't know about that…" Haruka stood up and turned away. "But even I can appreciate a beauty as pure as yours."

_Beauty…?_ Kimihiro concluded right then and there, that he was _not_ having a dream at all. He was having a nightmare. With that decided, he shouted and flailed in an attempt to wake himself up from it…and fell off the hay bale, knocking his elbow sharply on the plank floor. He winced and curled up on his knees, grabbing his elbow. "Ow…"

Doumeki turned sharply around, bow in hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… It's nothing." Kimihiro waved his hand dismissively and climbed back up on the hay bale. "Just a dream." He was not about to tell him about that conversation with his grandfather. "A_bad_ dream."

Doumeki frowned. "You had a nightmare?"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Did I ever…"

Clutching the bag with empty bento boxes and tea thermos in one hand, and his briefcase in the other, Kimihiro marched along the sidewalk back toward Yuuko's place with his thoughts going in distinctly_ wrongful _circles. He simply could not rid himself of the idea that Haruka-san thought he was…beautiful, and that Doumeki might too.

Guys weren't supposed to be beautiful! That was a _female_ word. Was Haruka-san implying that he _feminine_? Well, okay, so he had a slender build, and smooth skin, and …and no intimate body hair, but that didn't make him _feminine_!

Right behind those wrongful thoughts boiled the insidious knowledge that Doumeki had _wanted_ to tie him up. The fear generated by the monsters that hunted him was nothing compared to the utterly horrifying possibility that Doumeki might actually want to do _love play_ with him. With grave misgivings, he eyed the big, brute marching at his side carrying the nearly body-length, canvas wrapped bow slung over his shoulder.

Frowning slightly, Doumeki eyed Kimihiro right back. "You're being quiet."

Kimihiro lashed him with a glare, but kept his mouth firmly closed.

Doumeki's brows rose. The very edge of his mouth lifted just a tiny bit. "Did I frighten you that badly?"

_Frighten…?_ Kimihiro froze in mid-step. He turned to face Doumeki and spoke through his clenched teeth. "No, you did _not_frighten me. You freaked me the hell out!" He waved his arms in emphasis, swinging the bags he carried in the process. "Threatening to tie me up? What is _wrong_ with you?" He gathered his breath and shouted at the top of his lungs. "I'm _not_ one of your damned _toys_, you overgrown _pervert_!"

Doumeki removed his fingers from his ears and frowned. "How did you know about the toys?"

Kimihiro choked. _Crap!_ He turned away and started walking toward Yuuko's at top speed. _Me and my big mouth…_

Doumeki strode after him. "What else did my grandfather tell you?"

Kimihiro shook his head and walked faster. "Never mind! Just forget I said anything!"

"He must have said something, or you wouldn't have thrown yourself on the floor to wake up from it."

Kimihiro tripped over nothing in particular. How the hell had Doumeki figured that out? He straightened and kept walking. "No."

Doumeki fell into step beside him. "No?"

Kimihiro tucked his chin, and shook his head. He was not going to tell Doumeki that his grandfather had called him 'a very beautiful boy'. "Absolutely not."

Doumeki snorted. "You're not making any sense."

Kimihiro nodded. "Good."

Doumeki's smile broadened. "Are you actually trying to give me 'the silent treatment'?"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. Actually, no. He'd just been trying really, really hard not to saying anything more damaging than he already had. "As if that would work on someone who uses maybe a dozen words total in a twenty-four hour period!"

Doumeki snorted.

Kimihiro slowed his walking, so that he could proceed with a bit more dignity, not to mention that walking that fast was damned tiring. "If you must know, I am contemplating what to make for dinner."

Doumeki's brows lifted practically to his hairline. "Dinner?" He leaned in close, his eyes wide, and his mouth slightly slack. He was practically drooling. "What were you planning to make?"

Kimihiro almost smiled. Food was the one subject guaranteed to drag every utterly stubborn thought in Doumeki's thick skull to a total and screaming halt. _Works like a charm every time. _"I was planning on making…" He rattled off the exotic dish Yuuko had requested.

Doumeki's eyes widened and slid slightly out of focus. "Oh… I haven't had that in years." He licked his lips.

Kimihiro lifted his chin just a notch. "But I had to wait for someone's practice to end, and now all the grocery stores are closed." He sighed dramatically. "So I guess I'll just have to make that for tomorrow's dinner, so tonight…" A delicious scent wafted past his nose. He lifted his nose and sniffed deeper, looking for more. "Tonight…"

Doumeki leaned down to peer into Kimihiro's face. "Tonight?"

Kimihiro grinned and pointed down a small alley where a tiny pushcart shop sat among the first shadows of the evening. "We're having_oden_! _**kitsune**__ oden_!" Grinning, he dashed for the lighted cart, his mind full of very happy thoughts._Oden! Oden! Kitsune oden!_

"Watanuki, watch out!"

"Eh?" Shocked by the fact that Doumeki had actually used his name, Kimihiro lifted his head just in time to body-slam face-first into a hard, but oddly warm surface. Hands clasped his upper arms keeping him from bouncing back and falling on his butt.

"Are you all right?"

Kimihiro winced and lifted a finger to straighten his tilted glasses. "I'm terribly sorry…" The most incredible face he'd ever seen came into focus, and took his breath clean away.

Cascades of waist-length blue-black hair was drawn back from a high pale brow to fall over an incredibly broad shoulder. Slender black brows winged upward over steeply tilted bright blue eyes framed in sooty lashes, setting off the ultra-high cheekbones. The nose was well-formed and perfectly straight. The mouth was wide, full, and very red over a delicately pointed chin.

Kimihiro blinked. The stunning visage was far too pale and exotic to be human, but the tall, triangular, and furry black ears parting the black hair was the clearest give-away. He swallowed hard. He'd just done a facer into the broad chest of someone who was most definitely not human, and despite the long pretty hair, there was no mistaking that this person was male.

The creature smiled. "Oh, what a beautiful boy!"

Kimihiro's mouth fell open in utter horror. "Not you too?"

The exotic man tilted his head and smiled, showing the tips of small fangs. "You'd rather be ugly?"

Kimihiro stepped back. "Well actually, no. But…" His gaze was drawn to the three fluffy black foxtails waving gently behind him. All three were tipped in white and as long as the fox-man was tall. They looked distinctly odd with his pale blue t-shirt and faded jeans.

Kimihiro blinked. This was a _kitsune_, a fox-spirit? He stared up into the creature's face. _But he looks so close to human!_ His conscience suddenly stabbed him. _Manners! Manners, idiot!_ He bowed, "My deepest apologies for running into you."

The man laughed softly. "Oh, I didn't mind at all."

The elder fox stepped from his vending cart and looked about. His glasses were perched on his slender muzzle, and his customary apron was tied around his blue work robes. The sweeping brush of his long red tail flagged out behind him. "Is that you, Watanuki-kun?"

Kimihiro leaned past the exotic fox-man to gaze toward the cart. "Yes, it's me, Kitsune-san!"

The elder fox's gaze locked on the three-tailed fox-man standing before Kimihiro. The long elegant whiskers on his slender red muzzle twitched and his tall ears flicked back briefly. "I have your order ready for pick-up." He lifted a small paw. "This way."

Kimihiro nodded politely at the tall, dark-haired fox-man then stepped past him to follow the elder fox to the cart. He pushed back the hanging curtain to step under the cart's overhanging roof. "_My_ order…?"

The fox smiled, as only a fox could. "Yuuko-san sent a flyer." He pulled a sheet of lavender colored paper from his pocket that showed signs of origami creases.

Kimihiro had no doubt that the fox meant 'flyer' literally. The paper had probably flown in as her signature butterfly. "About payment…?"

The elder fox waved his paw. "I already have it." He leaned down to collect something from under the counter.

Kimihiro sighed in relief. The foxes didn't accept human money, and he wasn't sure what they might consider valuable enough for trade.

The fox lifted a good sized cloth-wrapped box to the counter top. "Yuuko-san told me to tell you not to dawdle." He leaned over the counter and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Watanuki-kun, a word of caution? You do not want to be that creature's game."

Kimihiro's brows lifted. "Eh?"

The elder fox pressed the boxes into Kimihiro's hands. "Hurry back to Yuuko-san's, Watanuki-kun. Hurry back as quickly as you can."

Kimihiro nodded. "I will." He turned and walked out from under the cart's roof, followed closely by the elder fox.

The fox lifted his chin and sniffed, his tall ears lifting straight up. "Oh, Doumeki-kun, how very nice to see you!"

Doumeki stepped into the cart's light. The small fox-boy stood in his shadow, his sleek fox tail low and coiled around his feet. Doumeki bowed to the elder fox. "Good to see you too, Kitsune-san."

Kimihiro inclined his head toward the small fox. What was he doing over there, with Doumeki?

The small fox bowed to Kimihiro, but remained silently in Doumeki's shadow.

Doumeki's gaze drifted to the dark-haired fox man and his golden gaze narrowed. He nodded slowly and carefully, his gaze hard and unwavering.

The fox man's brows lifted slightly. His smile faded and blue eyes hardened with frost. He returned exactly the same slight nod.

The elder fox clasped his paws and tilted his head. "Would that case you're carrying happen be your longbow?" One ear flicked very slightly in the direction of the fox man. He smiled broadly, showing his sharp white teeth. It wasn't a friendly smile in any way, shape, or form.

Doumeki smiled just as broadly, showing his teeth too. It wasn't pretty either. "Why yes it is, Kitsune-san. It's the one I inherited from my grandfather." Doumeki's gaze flicked slightly toward the fox man.

The elder fox nodded, still smiling with his pointed teeth. "How very excellent." He held out his paw.

The small fox-boy bolted to his sire's side and grasped his paw.

Kimihiro frowned at the three of them feeling very left out. What was going on?

"Well, you two boys go on then, and make your delivery." The fox lifted his apron and made a shooing motion. "And don't dawdle, the food will get cold!"

Doumeki tilted his head at Kimihiro and turned on his heel, walking away at a brisk pace.

Kimihiro started after him, and turned back briefly to wave. "See you later Kitsune-san!"

The fox lifted his paw briefly then turned away, leading his son toward the cart.

Kimihiro turned to say his goodbyes to the man he'd literally run into, but he didn't see the fox man anywhere.

Doumeki called out from ten paces ahead. "Oi, slow ass!"

Kimihiro's hackles lifted and his temper boiled. "And just _who_are you calling a slow ass?" He jogged after Doumeki juggling the bag with the empty bento boxes, his school briefcase, and the oden package. "I have a lot to carry here! You could help, you know."

Doumeki shook his head briefly. "I have my bow." His stride was strong and his gaze was very alert, drifting back and forth as though watching for something.

Kimihiro frowned. "Did I miss something?"

Doumeki spared him a brief sour glance. "Yes."

Kimihiro was not in the mood to play guessing games. "What? What did I miss?"

Doumeki shot him a sideways glare. "So, who _else_ told you that you were beautiful today?"

Kimihiro choked and tripped, but he managed to avoid actually falling. He wanted to ask where the hell that had come from, but was far too worried that he might actually admit something he'd regret instead. "Look, I'm a guy, and guys aren't beautiful…"

Doumeki turned and looked him dead in the eye. "You _are_ beautiful, and that's whole fucking problem." He strode ahead, his back stiff. He was very clearly annoyed.

Kimihiro stood frozen stiff, staring after him for an entire breath before he could even move. Doumeki _did not_ just say that. _He did not…!_

The larger boy scowled over his shoulder. "Oi! Get moving, idiot!"

Kimihiro wasn't quite sure how he did it, but he succeeded in keeping his mouth shut all the way to Yuuko's and into her kitchen. Then he exploded. None of his ranting was anywhere near coherent, but that wasn't the point of the exercise. By the time he had the _oden_ ready to be served, he was relatively calm. He carried the big tray up on his shoulder with a modicum of grace and aplomb all the way out to the porch where Yuuko, Mokona, and Doumeki were set to dine. A large bottle of warmed sake sat in the very center of the table.

The elegant witch smiled up at him with a gleam in her cinnamon eyes. "So Watanuki-kun, Doumeki-kun tells me that you've had a very interesting day. Care to talk about it?"

The night went downhill from there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

* * *

_**Chapter Three**_

* * *

The sweetly smiling, cinnamon-eyed time-space witch shifted her layered robes and reclined elegantly on her broad seating cushion. "Have a seat, Watanuki-kun, and tell us all about your interesting day!"

Watanuki Kimihiro stared down at her, and swallowed hard.

He was doomed.

Without saying a word, Kimihiro hoisted the large serving tray from his shoulder to settle it on the low folding stand by the round black lacquered dining table. Sweeping his white house-work smock away from his knees and adjusting his head scarf, he knelt by the tray, and began to ladle the _oden_ into bowls. As far as he was concerned, the best way to handle the situation was through blatant diversion.

Luckily, Mokona was sitting right next to his mistress, and he could always be counted on to help.

The small plump bunny-eared creature's mouth opened nearly as wide as his body and crowed in his child-like voice. "_Waaaah!_ Oden! Kitsune oden! He hopped up on the table and headed straight for the tray. "Feed me, Watanuki!"

"Oi!" Kimihiro brandished his soup ladle at the small creature. "Don't walk on the table! I'll bring it to you!" He looked about. He didn't see the furry white streak of the pipe fox, but that didn't mean he wasn't close by, and planning a pounce. "Was the sake warm enough, Yuuko-san?"

Yuuko lifted the sake bottle and waved it. "We're going to need another bottle. This one's empty, Watanuki-kun."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes while ladling the thick soup into serving bowls. "And just how did it get so empty so fast, Yuuko-san? I just brought that out not ten minutes ago!" He collected the bottle from her hand and scowled. "The bottle hasn't even cooled yet!"

Yuuko smiled broadly and clasped her hands. "I was thirsty!" She gestured broadly. "And so was Mokona and Doumeki-kun."

"Fine, fine… Another bottle." Kimihiro set the bottle on the tray. He did not make his usual comment about Doumeki drinking booze while under-aged. He had a really bad feeling that saying anything to Doumeki might lead him back into the conversation he was working hard to avoid. "You know, I do have chilled tea here?"

Yuuko shook her head and smiled broadly. "Sake goes much better with _oden_!"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "According to you, everything goes much better with sake."

Yuuko lifted her chin and stuck out her full bottom lip, producing an enormous pout. "Well, it _does_!"

Kimihiro groaned loudly, then walked around the table to set a full bowl and spoon before Mokona.

The small creature skipped the spoon and grabbed the bowl's sides with his paws. Without further adieu, he tipped the bowl, pouring half of the contents straight into his mouth.

_Little pig…_ Kimihiro knocked him lightly on the top of the head. "Oi! Eat it, don't inhale it." He tucked a paper napkin next to the bowl. "And wipe your chin."

The small creature set the bowl down and giggled. "Ah! Watanuki-chan will make a good mother!"

"What?" Kimihiro swatted at the little black beast with no real intent to hit him. "That was rude, you animated pork bun!" He moved back around the table to set bowls before Yuuko and Doumeki, along with the appropriate side dishes, spoons, and napkins. He was very careful not to look Doumeki or Yuuko in the eye, though he could feel both of their gazes pressing against him.

"It wasn't rude." Mokona shook his head, his ears flapping. "I think Watanuki would make a very good mother!"

"Mokona, men don't become mothers!" He set down glasses of chilled oolong tea for himself and Doumeki, then knelt on the seating cushion with Yuuko on his right and Doumeki on his left with Mokona directly across the table. "I can't have children." He lifted his spoon. "It's a physical impossibility."

Yuuko blew gently on the soup in her spoon. "Physical impossibility or not, there are those who would like to try." Her spoon passed her lips and she smiled.

Kimihiro paused with his lifted spoon halfway to his mouth. "Eh?" He frowned at her. "That did not make any sense what so ever."

Yuuko set her spoon in her bowl and turned to regard Kimihiro with intent. "So, how many men told you that you were beautiful today?"

Just like that, Kimihiro's doom was upon him.

Cold sweat prickled his spine. His gaze shifted to Doumeki. In that instant, he knew it had been a stupid move on his part.

Doumeki was eating his soup with deliberate care, but he was staring hard at Kimihiro. His eyes were the color of cold hard brass, and his brows had drawn close enough together to create a small line between them. Despite the fact that there were no other outward signs of any emotion what so ever, it was perfectly obvious to Kimihiro that Doumeki was furious.

Kimihiro tore his gaze from Doumeki to look over at Yuuko.

She lifted her spoon and smiled. "Well, Watanuki-kun?"

Panic slammed his heart up into his throat. _No, no, no… God no, I am__** not**__ having this conversation!_ Desperate to escape, Kimihiro grabbed the empty sake bottle from the serving tray and leapt to his feet. "I'll go heat another bottle." He bolted for the kitchen at top speed.

Behind him, a loud thump and the rattle of silverware announced that someone's fist had hit the table.

Safe at last in the kitchen, Kimihiro yanked another bottle of sake from the counter, he had four more lined up, and set it in the pan of water on the stove to heat. He scrubbed at his face. _Gods, those two…_

Unfortunately, nothing he could do or say would change the fact that the answer to Yuuko's question was three. Haruka-san and that fox-guy had told him straight out, that he was a beautiful boy, and then Doumeki… He winced. Doumeki had said point blank, _'you are.'_

"Gah!" He grabbed his head. "With so many memories slipping out of my skull why can't that be one of them?" He did _not _want to know that Doumeki thought he was beautiful. That would imply…feelings, _romantic _feelings, possibly even _sexual_ feelings.

His mind was suddenly invaded by the image of Doumeki's evil smirk while he slid the blue silk cord into a loop. In that moment, those warm syrupy sensations were back and sliding downward, stealing the blood from his limbs to fill another place entirely. _Love play… Love play… Love play…_

"Gyaaah!" Kimihiro knocked himself in the head with his knuckles. "Stop that! Stop thinking those thoughts!" He dragged the scarf from his head and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I sooo need to soak my head."

And take a cold shower.

Kimihiro froze where he stood. To his complete and utter horror, he had an erection. Slowly he looked down. His blousy smock hid the sight of the tent he knew was in his pants, but that didn't change the fact that his pants were indeed straining at his zipper because his dick was hard. Almost painfully hard.

A squeak of shock escaped him. Still staring downward, he set his hands on his hips. "What the hell is _this_?" He was well aware that his body occasionally did things he couldn't control. Walking into Yuuko's shop was one of them, crying at sappy movies was another, but _this_…? This was… This was_ totally_ uncalled for! Not to mention, rude. He pointed at his dick. "You cut that out _right now_!"

"Watanuki-kun, is something wrong?" The voice was smooth, elegant, feminine, and the last voice he really needed to hear, beyond one other.

_Crap!_ Kimihiro straightened so fast he achieved a crick in his neck. "I… Everything's fine." Keeping his back firmly to the door, he waved a hand jauntily. "Nothing's wrong!" _Oh gods, please let her not have seen me talking to my…self._

"I see…" The slightest chuckle of amusement escaped her. "Is the sake ready?"

"Yes!" Kimihiro jumped for the stove and shut off the heat to the pan. "Yes, it is. I'll bring it out right away!"

"Oh, and you'd better hurry if you don't want Mokona to finish your dinner for you."

Kimihiro stiffened and felt cool strengthening anger flooding through him. "Tell that little bottomless pit that if he touches my bowl, I'm having black pork bun for lunch tomorrow!"

Yuuko's laughter trilled out. "Oh! You know that he loves you!"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes…!" He threw up his hands. "Everybody loves me!"

"Well, you're just so sweet, no one can resist you."

"Sweet?" Kimihiro very nearly stomped his foot. He turned around to face her and jabbed a finger at his chest. "Yuuko-san, I am about as sweet as a persimmon!" It was the sourest food he could think of.

Yuuko tapped her lips with a finger and tilted her head coyly. "Ah, but you forget; there are those who really _like _persimmons!"

Kimihiro tugged at his hair. "Yuuko-san, _that_ is not the_point_!"

"Oh, but I think it is." She turned and walked away from the door, trailing giggles.

"Stupid…!" Kimihiro turned back around to pull the warmed bottle from the pan on the stove. "Stupid Haruka-san, stupid fox guy, stupid Doumeki…" He set a cloth around the bottle so as not to burn his hands while carrying it. He took a deep breath and released it. "And stupid me." His jaw set, and his step firm, he headed back out to the dinner table.

On the positive side, his short temper had made his _condition_ go away.

On the negative side, he just knew that he was heading back to face monumental embarrassment.

By the time Kimihiro dropped to his knees at the table, he had worked his temper to a froth. With careful deliberation, he removed the cork from the sake bottle then set on the table's center with a thump. "Three. That is the answer to your question Yuuko-san." He turned to glare at her. "Are you pleased?"

Yuuko lifted her cup, indicating that Kimihiro should fill it. "Well, if three men told _me_ that I was beautiful, I'd be very pleased."

Kimihiro lifted the bottle to pour for her and spoke through clenched teeth. "Yuuko-san, in case you haven't noticed, _I _am _not_ a _woman_!"

Mokona waved his cup. "Mokona is drinking! Mokona is drinking too!"

Doumeki lifted his cup as well.

Kimihiro filled Mokona's cup, then turned to snarl at Doumeki. "You should not be drinking! Especially on a school night!"

Doumeki merely continued to hold his cup out, his gaze steady and focused.

Kimihiro felt his cheeks warming. He filled the cup just to look at something other than Doumeki's face. "I don't want to hear it when your head hurts tomorrow." He turned away and set the bottle down by Yuuko with a thump.

Yuuko lifted the bottle and smiled. "I think perhaps it is time to tell you about the birds and the butterflies."

Kimihiro blinked at her. "Do you mean 'the birds and the bees'?"

Yuuko sloshed sake into Mokona's freshly emptied cup. "For you, butterflies are a better analogy than bees."

Kimihiro picked up his abandoned bowl of oden and waved his spoon in dismissal. "I already know that stuff. We had a class on it in my freshman year." That had been the most frightening two hours of his life. He'd had no idea that physical intimacy could bring so many fatal _diseases_. He shivered briefly.

Yuuko laughed softly. "That was for intimate relationships between men and women. You, I feel, are going to need a crash course on the other type of intimate relationship."

Kimihiro chewed, frowning. _Other type…?_

Yuuko leaned closer. "How men conduct intimacy with other men."

Kimihiro froze in complete shock for an entire heartbeat, then sucked in a sharp breath. The bite he'd been chewing abruptly went down the wrong pipe. He coughed hard to get his breath back. "_Yuuko-san…_!" He set his bowl down with a thump. "I am _eating_! Such things are _not_ something one discusses at the dinner table! And certainly not something I would _ever_ consider discussing in front of…" He tilted his head toward Doumeki. "…Other people!"

Yuuko twirled her finger in the air. "Such things are not something you would ever consider discussing, _period_."

Kimihiro nodded. "That too."

Yuuko shook her head, all amusement gone from her expression. "Watanuki-kun, considering how events are progressing, I feel that this is a discussion that cannot occur soon enough."

Kimihiro blinked at her. "Events…? What are you saying?"

Doumeki lifted his cup toward his lips. "She's saying, forewarned is forearmed." He sipped.

Kimihiro looked over at him in total confusion. He was _in agreement_ on having this…discussion? He turned away and rolled his eyes. _But of course, it's yet another chance to completely embarrass me._

Yuuko sloshed the sake bottle. "You have until this bottle empties." She squinted at the light passing through the thick glass. "Hmm… I suggest you finish your dinner quickly."

Kimihiro grabbed his bowl. He would not, _would not_ have this discussion, not in front of Doumeki. "Discuss whatever you like._I'm_ eating in the kitchen." A large warm hand closed on his ankle. Kimihiro froze then looked down at his captured ankle. Doumeki's hand was around it.

Doumeki gave Kimihiro a slightly annoyed look. "Don't be an idiot."

Kimihiro's cheeks filled with warmth and heat began to pool in low places. He jerked his gaze away, clutching his soup bowl as if it were a shield. "I have no intention of sitting here just so you can embarrass me."

"Oh please…" Doumeki snorted and rolled his eyes. "You embarrass yourself all the time." His hand remained firmly around Kimihiro's ankle.

Kimihiro glared at him. "Let go."

Doumeki glared right back. "Eat."

Anger vibrated up Kimihiro's spine. He grabbed his spoon brandished it. "I do _not _take orders from _you_!"

Doumeki nodded and released Kimihiro's ankle.

Kimihiro promptly started shoveling the still warm oden into his mouth. _Stuck-up, self-righteous, bossy, perverted, pain in my ass…_

Yuuko's gaze shifted from Kimihiro to Doumeki. A slight smile curved her lips. She turned and tipped sake into Mokona's cup. "Mokona-chan is drinking, right?"

Mokona bounced on his pillow. "Drinking! Drinking! Makona is drinking!" He hopped up on the table and hefted the bottle that was nearly twice his height and just as big around as he was. "Yuuko-san is drinking too?"

Yuuko held out her cup. "I am! I am indeed."

Doumeki held out his cup too.

Mokona turned to Doumeki. "Doumeki-kun is drinking too?"

Doumeki nodded.

Mokona tilted the bottle to fill Yuuko's cup, then waddled across the table top fill Doumeki's. He left the bottle with Doumeki and bounced back to his pillow. He lifted his full cup. "Cheers!"

Yuuko lifted hers and giggled. "Cheers!"

Doumeki lifted his cup and spoke in his flat monotone. "Cheers."

Kimihiro ignored them all. The oden was heavenly, but he barely tasted it. He just wanted to get this whole debacle over with so he could go to bed, and forget it ever happened.

Yuuko leaned her elbow on the table. "So, Doumeki-kun, how are your personal studies progressing? Has your hand improved?"

Doumeki eyed her then sipped at his cup. "I've been practicing, but I doubt my work will match my grandfather's skill any time soon."

Kimihiro continued to eat but frowned. Was something wrong with Doumeki's hand? He hadn't noticed anything at school.

Yuuko nodded and offered her empty cup to Doumeki. "That level of skill will take a lot of practice. However…" She smiled slyly.

Doumeki filled her cup and lifted a brow at her.

Yuuko leaned back and cradled her sake cup. "I think that matching your grandfather is not what you should be aiming for." She sipped. "Your skills are a little different, so your hand will be different as well."

Kimihiro fished after the last bites in his bowl, curious about what Yuuko was talking about in spite of himself.

Mokona offered his cup to Doumeki. "Different people, different skills, different hands… You are you. Your grandfather is your grandfather. Different purposes, different aesthetics."

Kimihiro's frown deepened. _Was that supposed to make sense?_

Doumeki poured sake into Mokona's cup, a small line appearing between his brows. "So, I shouldn't try to do his style of work?"

Yuuko nodded. "Exactly. Your grandfather is an excellent model, a good place to begin, but you should discover your own style."

Doumeki lifted the bottle, shook it a little, then peered through the thick glass. His gaze drifted to Kimihiro.

Yuuko's lips parted. "Ah! Done already?"

Doumeki nodded and set the bottle down.

Kimihiro ignored them both, and drank the dregs of his soup. He set the empty bowl down.

Yuuko nodded. "Perfect timing."

Kimihiro eased forward in his seat and reached for Mokona's empty bowl. "I'll get the dishes…"

Yuuko leaned forward and set a long-fingered hand over his. "Mokona-chan, will you help Watanuki-kun by gathering the dishes?" She looked Kimihiro in the eye. "The washing can wait."

Kimihiro swallowed and sat back down.

Mokona bounced up on the table. "Kyaa! Mokona will help! Mokona likes helping!" He grabbed the empty bowls, spoons, napkins, and the tiny side dishes, piling them all in a wobbling tower.

"Uwaaah!" Kimihiro lifted his hands to catch the teetering dishes. "Don't drop them!"

"Won't!" Mokona dodged Kimihiro's hands and somehow bounced off the table without dropping even a spoon. "Won't drop them!" He waddled off on his long bunny feet. "Help, help, helping, Watanuki-kun!"

Yuuko clasped her hands together and smiled. "Now then, where shall we begin?"

_Oh gods…_ Kimihiro dug his fingers into the pillow he sat on. "Yuuko-san, _must _we discuss…_this_?"

"Watanuki-kun…" She set her elbow on the low table and perched her chin on her hand. "Have you been kissed yet?"

Kimihiro blinked, then felt his face fill with warmth. "Ah, no. Not yet." Haruka's words suddenly echoed in his mind. _"Did he kiss you, or something?"_ Kimihiro glanced over at Doumeki.

Doumeki blinked and his eyes widened slightly.

Kimihiro looked back at Yuuko. "The girls all think I'm…" His face warmed further. He dropped his gaze to his glass of chilled tea sitting on the table. "They think I'm weird." It was to be expected. They couldn't see the spirits that used to attack him almost daily. All they could see was him flailing away to escape. Girls tended to avoid him.

Except the _Zashiki Warashi_, the Vestal Sprite. She seemed to like him well enough, though her body guards, the crow_ tengu,_ clearly hated his guts. Himawari liked him too, but she had that…condition.

Yuuko sighed and patted Kimihiro's hand. "Well, as far as kissing is concerned, I don't think you'll have to wait too long for your first kiss." She smiled and her gaze slid past Kimihiro.

Kimihiro frowned and automatically looked where she was looking.

Doumeki met his gaze briefly, then lifted his tea and sipped.

Kimihiro's frown deepened. Apparently, the two were sharing some kind of silent message. He shook his head. Sometimes, he really, really didn't get Yuuko or Doumeki at all.

Yuuko patted his hand again. "Now then, let's get onto the more graphic details!"

Watanuki stared at her. "Eh?"

Yuuko snorted and smiled. "I originally thought to simply hand you a handful of yaoi mangas, but I figured that might not be enough for you."

Doumeki shook his head. "Some of that stuff is wrong." He lifted a brow at Yuuko. "Painfully wrong."

Yuuko's brows lifted. "Oh?" She smiled. "You sound so…well informed."

Doumeki looked away. "My family is of the _Shingon_ tradition. My education was very…" He coughed. "Thorough."

Yuuko leaned over the table, her smile widening. "Oh? How thorough?"

Doumeki snorted. "I read a lot of historical accounts."

Yuuko pouted briefly, then tilted her head and lifted her brow. "I thought you might have gained some…practical knowledge from your grandfather. I'd heard that he observed… tradition, even after he was married."

Doumeki flushed bright pink.

Kimihiro stared. Doumeki was blushing? _That _was different.

Despite the redness of his cheeks, Doumeki met and held Yuuko's gaze. "My adopted great uncle had a very strong bow. My grandmother was _very_ fond of him."

Yuuko's smile became positively predatory. "So… Do you intend to follow the family tradition?"

Doumeki's gaze shifted to Kimihiro then back to Yuuko. His expression was very neutral. "Yes."

Yuuko sat up and readjusted the already perfect folds of her butterfly embroidered robes. "In the honorable fashion, of course?"

Doumeki lifted his chin. "Of course."

Yuuko giggled then turned to Kimihiro. "Watanuki-kun, are you following any of this?"

Kimihiro snorted and folded his arms. "Not one word." _Shingon_ tradition? He'd never even heard of that. _I thought Doumeki's family was Buddist?_

Yuuko chuckled. "I thought not." Twirling a lock of her long black hair and smiling slyly, she looked over at Doumeki. "Frustrating isn't it?"

Doumeki rolled his eyes and his shoulders slumped. "Very."

Yuuko turned to Kimihiro and grinned. "Now then, to the details!" She lifted her index finger. "Always use lots of lubrication." She lifted a second finger. "Use a condom, unless you know them really, really well, and…" She lifted a third finger. "Never ever forget the magic words, _push out_."

Kimihiro frowned. "Condom and lubrication I get, but 'push out'?"

Yuuko snorted. "When a man has intercourse with another man, you _do_ know where his…member goes, yes?"

Kimihiro puzzled over two male bodies equipped with masculine appendages for a few breaths, then shook his head. "Men aren't built for…_that_."

Doumeki sighed heavily. "It goes up his ass, idiot."

The scene in Kimihiro's imagination shifted to one male body bent over, head down with his butt up, and the other kneeling behind him inserting himself between the first's cheeks…and he fainted dead away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

* * *

_**Chapter Four**_

* * *

Kimihiro blinked. Though he sat on the long porch facing the sliding doors that led into the house's main room, the low black dining table was gone, as were Yuuko, Mokona, and Doumeki.

Poorly stifled chuckling came from the immediate right.

Kimihiro turned.

A man that looked very like Doumeki, but for the green and gold formal robes, and the cigarette in his hand, sat hunched over on the very edge of the porch. One hand was clamped over his mouth, with his other arm bent across his stomach, carefully holding his cigarette away from his flowing clothes. His entire body shook.

Kimihiro frowned. "Haruka-san?"

Haruka released his mouth and laughter came rolling out. "Oh gods…" Gasping for breath, he wiped at his eyes. "Watanuki-kun…" Breathless chuckles escaped him. "Watanuki-kun, I knew you were delicate, but I had no idea just how much of a _princess_ you truly were!"

"_What?"_ Kimihiro flinched back to sprawl with his knees splayed. "A _princess_…?"

"Watanuki-kun…" Haruka shook his head and grinned. "I could understand you being shocked by anal sex, but you…" He snickered. "You…" He covered his mouth with one hand and waved the other hand in Kimihiro's direction. "You…_fainted_!" He threw back his head and laughed.

Kimihiro's cheeks warmed fiercely. He hadn't _intended_ to…pass out, it just…happened. He folded his arms across his chest and scowled. "Well, what they were describing was…was utterly _indecent_!"

"Watanuki-kun…" Haruka took a deep breath and wiped at the tears sliding down his cheeks. "Sex generally _is_ indecent." He turned and smiled. "Especially good sex."

"Haruka-san…!" Kimihiro threw his arms up over his head in an attempt to keep those images from returning to his mind, not that it helped any. "You _approve _of that sort of thing between _men_?"

Haruka snorted. "Attraction is a natural part of life. As long as both parties desire each other, what is not to approve of?"

Kimihiro frowned in confusion. "But isn't…_that_ sort of thing against your beliefs?" He was a Buddhist, wasn't he?

Haruka smiled and it echoed Doumeki's sinister smirk. "Not at all. Our sect believes that embracing earthly pleasure as a way toward enlightenment."

_Embracing earthly pleasure…?_ Kimihiro suddenly had the feeling that he was swimming in extremely dark water. Apparently, there was an awful lot about Haruka-san and Doumeki that he knew nothing about.

Haruka leaned toward Kimihiro, pointing with his cigarette. "You know about using lube, correct?"

Kimihiro turned away, his face on fire. Not _that_ again! "Yes."

Haruka nodded. "Good, just remember to push out."

In complete frustration, Kimihiro threw both his arms in the air. "What_ is_ this…'_push out'_ business?"

Haruka very casually examined his cigarette. "When you're being entered, pushing out opens the body and keeps penetration from being painful."

_Penetration…_ A small squeak of stunned horror escaped Kimihiro's lips. He turned very slowly to look over at Haruka. "You mean it really _does _go…?"

Haruka's lips curved upward in the same mild smile he usually wore, and he nodded. "Yep, up the ass."

Kimihiro's imagination suddenly supplied him with a very graphic image of two sweating bodies, one straining over the other. "Oh gods…!" He wiped his face with both hands to drive the image from his mind. When that didn't work, he lunged to his feet and scrambled off the porch to onto the night-dark lawn.

Haruka chuckled. "Oh! The princess didn't faint this time!"

Kimihiro turned around to face him and wrapped his arms around his middle. "I am _not _a princess!"

Haruka lifted a brow "Oh no?" He smiled and gestured with his cigarette. "If you were any more delicate, we'd have to keep you under glass."

"I am _not_ that damned delicate!" Kimihiro jabbed a thumb at his chest. "I've had to deal with life-threatening situations,_by_ _myself,_ practically all of my solitary life!"

Haruka lifted his brow. "Which is why it's so strange that sex shocks you so badly."

Kimihiro shook his head and sighed heavily. "Why does everyone want to talk about…s-sex?"

Haruka grinned. "Look at that, you can even say the word!"

Kimihiro stomped his foot. "Of course I can say the word!"

Haruka rolled his eyes. "I was beginning to wonder…"

Kimihiro ground his teeth. Just because he didn't like using crude words… He threw out his hands. "I'm trying to be serious here!"

Haruka lifted a brow and his smile faded. "So am I." He pointed with his cigarette. "If you're going to have sex, forewarned is forearmed."

Kimihiro flinched back. That was what Doumeki had said. He scowled. "Who says I'm going to have sex?" The word came out even easier that time.

Haruka rose to his feet and turned slightly away. "Are you planning to stay a virgin your entire life?"

Kimihiro bit down on his bottom lip. "Well no, but…"

Haruka nodded. "Then, you should know what to expect."

Kimihiro shook his head. Everyone was missing the point! "Haruka-san,_I_ don't expect to have sex with _men_!"

Haruka grinned. "Ah, but _they_ expect to have sex with _you_, princess."

Kimihiro blinked. _They expect sex…with me? _Shock kicked his heart so hard his entire body shuddered. He sucked in a deep breath as though coming up from underwater, and opened his eyes…to a very close view of a rather firm butt clad in snug black trousers only inches from his nose.

Apparently, he was bent over someone's broad shoulder, rather like a bag of rice. Despite the nearly upside-down position, his glasses had remained hooked over his ears, though they were crooked. He lifted his head to straighten his glasses and saw that he in Yuuko's house and being carried up the hall toward his bedroom.

He swallowed hard. He had a really bad feeling he knew whose shoulder he was draped over, and hoped to the Gods that he was wrong. "Um… You can put me down."

"Can you stand?" Doumeki's voice was calm, deep, and vibrated in the shoulder right under his belly.

Kimihiro winced and covered his face with his hands. _Why _couldn't he have been wrong? He was wrong so many damned times, why couldn't_this_ be one of them? "Just…put me down." He wanted to scream it at the top of his lungs, but the pressure on his belly didn't allow for enough breath.

"All right." Doumeki's hands closed around Kimihiro's waist, and he bent forward a little.

Kimihiro tilted up and suddenly he was slowly sliding down Doumeki's chest within the larger boy's encircling arms. His hips slid past Doumeki's and he felt a very firm ridge in the region of the groin. Doumeki was erect. Heat filled his cheeks and slithered downward. _I sooo did not need to know that!_

Haruka-san's words echoed in his mind. _"They expect to have sex with you…"_

A warm fluttery sensation erupted in Kimihiro's belly. His feet touched the ground and his legs buckled.

Doumeki snorted and grabbed Kimihiro by the upper arms, keeping him from collapsing on the floor. His brow lifted and the ghost of a smirk curved his lips. "I thought you could stand?"

_Stupid knees…_ Kimihiro forced his wobbling knees to work, and pressed his palms against Doumeki's chest. "I'm standing. You can let go now." He kept his chin tucked, completely unable to look Doumeki in the eye.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Eh?" Kimihiro looked up in spite of himself.

Doumeki's bright gold gaze was focused with intent under lowered brows and his chest tense under Kimihiro's palms. Other than that, he was completely expressionless, and far, far, far too close. "What if I want…to kiss you?"

_Kiss…me?_ Kimihiro stared up at him, his eyes wide, and his heart beating in his mouth. He hadn't thought his face could get any hotter. Apparently, he was wrong. Burning with embarrassment, his temper flared. "Are you_ completely_ out of your mind?"

Doumeki's hands tightened on Kimihiro's upper arms. "Probably." He leaned forward with clear intent.

_He's __**serious**_ Kimihiro backpedaled hard. His back and head slammed into the wall. "D-Doumeki, I-I'm not a girl." His voice came out entirely too breathless.

Doumeki snorted and leaned closer, his smirk appearing. "I know."

"You know?" Kimihiro grabbed Doumeki's sleeves to shove him back. It was like pushing against a tree. When the hell had he gotten so damned…solid? "If you know, then what the hell are you _doing_?" He swung his right fist out, hoping to knock some sense into the side of his thick head.

Doumeki caught Kimihiro's wrist and slammed it against the wall, pinning it above Kimihiro's head. He lunged in and pressed his opposite forearm against the wall by Kimihiro's head, blocking Kimihiro's left hand. "What am I doing?" He jammed his knee against the wall between Kimihiro's legs. "What does it look like?"

Kimihiro's jaw slackened and his lips parted but no sound escaped._He did__** not**__ just pin me to the wall. _

Doumeki's open mouth swooped down to press firmly against Kimihiro's parted lips. Breath mingled.

Kimihiro stiffened, completely shocked. _He… He… He… Doumeki is kissing me?_ He gathered breath to shout…

Doumeki tongue slid into Kimihiro's open mouth and delivered a warm wet caress.

Kimihiro pushed back with his own tongue purely out of self defense. He couldn't help noticing the slight burn of sake on Doumeki's tongue, but there was another flavor there, something muskier, and very masculine. The warm fluttery sensation abruptly became hot thick syrup that spilled downward and tightened with ferocious speed. A tiny moan escaped.

Doumeki turned his head slightly, fitting his mouth snugly over Kimihiro's, and continued to apply his tongue, lapping, stroking, and tasting as though Kimihiro's mouth was his most favorite dessert.

Kimihiro shuddered under the assault of Doumeki's clearly expert tongue. His thoughts began to scatter. He was forced to widen his mouth to breathe. Saliva began to dribble from the corner of his lips. His pants tightened uncomfortably and his knees wobbled under him. He shifted to the side, seeking escape, or relief. He couldn't tell. It was so hard to think past the tongue moving against his.

Doumeki leaned in, pressing up against Kimihiro, chest to chest, belly to belly, pelvis to pelvis…

Erection against erection.

Kimihiro shuddered hard. _Oh shit…_ Doumeki was definitely erect. So was he. He was erect, really, really, painfully erect. Damn it, even his nipples were erect. They actually ached. They were both erect…and kissing. _Oh god…_ This was _not good._

Doumeki pressed in, deliberately rubbing his thigh against Kimihiro's crotch, and groaned in obvious delight.

Raw pleasure washed straight up from Kimihiro's dick and whitewashed his brain. Pressure, there was pressure against his dick, and it felt so good, and so bad. It was too much, and not enough. He wanted… He wanted more. He tightened his legs around the hard thigh between them and arched up to rub his chest, and his aching nipples, against Doumeki's hard chest while rubbing his dick in delicious counterpoint against the ridge of Doumeki's hip. He moaned straight into Doumeki's mouth.

Doumeki obligingly increased the pressure and the speed against Kimihiro's hip, spreading his feet wide to support them both against the wall.

Kimihiro writhed against him, sucking on Doumeki's tongue as though starved. _More, damn it._ He needed more! He wanted… He wanted to cum. He wanted to cum so bad… So, so, so bad… Soft whimpers sounded in his throat. _Just a little more…_

The sound of soft clapping broke Kimihiro's concentration.

Doumeki's mouth broke away. He released Kimihiro's wrist and turned to look back up the hall.

"Eh?" Kimihiro grabbed onto Doumeki's shoulders, gasping for breath. "What…?"

"Well, that took care of that rather nicely." The voice was feminine, elegant, and completely smug.

Kimihiro felt a shaft of ice spear straight through his gut. _Oh shit…_ He turned his head to his right to fast he heard it snap, crackle, and pop.

Yuuko flicked open a golden fan made of sheer lace and smiled behind it. Strangely, the blue cloud and red butterfly pattern on the fan blended seamlessly with the same pattern on her outer robe.

Kimihiro shook his head. He should have been used to seeing that stuff by now.

Yuuko tilted her head coyly. "Enjoy your first kiss, Watanuki-kun?" Her brow lifted. "You seem to be a little reluctant to let Doumeki-kun go."

"Huh?" Kimihiro suddenly realized that he had the shoulders of Doumeki's white school jacket clutched in both hands. He jerked his hands away.

Doumeki turned sharply to Kimihiro, his eyes a hair wider than normal. His cheeks held a definite pink to them, but his lips were very red, and very moist.

Yuuko lifted her chin and focused her cinnamon gaze on Doumeki. "I believe Watanuki-kun has had enough excitement for one night. Don't you think?"

Doumeki turned to Yuuko and his expression smoothed out to nothing at all. He bowed deeply to Yuuko.

Yuuko's smile widened. "No apology?"

The corners of Doumeki's mouth tilted slightly downward and his gaze became half-lidded. His gaze drifted to Kimihiro, and heated to molten gold. His tongue flashed out to lick his bottom lip. He turned back to Yuuko and lifted his chin. "No."

Kimihiro sucked in a breath. He couldn't decide if he should be pissed that Doumeki wouldn't apologize for the kiss, or relieved that Doumeki didn't regret doing it.

Yuuko snapped her fan closed and crossed her arms under her generous bosom. "Good."

Doumeki subtly grabbed the side seam of his trousers and tugged just a little. "It's late."

Yuuko twitched at the skirts of her flowing robes and turned to face back down the hallway. "Why so it is, and you do have school tomorrow." She looked over her shoulder, her smiling glance moving from one boy to the other. "We will see the appropriate…response tomorrow, will we not, Doumeki-kun?"

Doumeki nodded firmly. "Yes."

"Excellent." Yuuko moved down the hallway, her robes whispering behind her. "I look forward to seeing your hand."

Doumeki turned to look at Kimihiro. His brows lowered over his hard gold eyes. "I won't apologize." His voice was low and fierce. "I have no regrets." He turned and stalked up the hallway after Yuuko.

Trembling violently, Kimihiro slid down the wall to sprawl on the floor in the empty hallway. _He has no regrets, but I do._ He covered his burning face with both hands and a small moan escaped his lips. He couldn't decide if he wanted to scream or burst into tears, but Oh god, he was still so hard it _hurt._

Why did that bastard have to be such a good kisser?

Why was he even _thinking_ about it?

Groaning in dismay, Kimihiro fled to his assigned bedroom, slapped on the light, grabbed the sleeping robe from the stool, and dashed into the bathroom to change. He couldn't get out of his sweaty school uniform fast enough.

He was still hard, and dripping.

Kimihiro turned on the shower at full blast and stepped in. He squirted liquid soap on the scrubbing pouf and lathered his face, his neck, his chest… He winced. His nipples were still hard.He scrubbed his belly, his back, his legs, his butt…

His erection had gone nowhere. In fact, the crown had become a dark purple and the whole thing ached in time with his pounding heart.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

He set his forearm against the slick white tile wall and groaned. He knew what he had to do, he'd heard all about it in the locker room. He took a deep breath. _It's nothing. It's normal. Every guy does this._ Hell, according to most of what he'd overheard, most guys did this several times a day. It just wasn't something he'd needed to do before…before…

Before the kiss.

He scowled. _Never mind that!_ _Just do it!_ He wrapped his hand around…himself, and stroked from the base to the tip of the crown. Carnal pleasure jolted all the way up his spine. A soft moan left his lips. It felt sooo good. He began to stroke in earnest, encouraging the sparks of pleasure to build into something bigger, something hotter.

His feet slid a bit further apart and he braced against the wall until he was pumping hid hips and thrusting into his own hand. His heart thundered in his chest and his breath escaped in pants. Thought-blinding delight spilled through him in increasingly intense waves. _Oh god, is this was sex feels like? No wonder everyone is in such a panic to have it! _

His balls tightened deliciously. He was almost there, almost…there…

Suddenly Doumeki's face flashed in his mind, accompanied by the sensation of Doumeki's hand tight around his wrist, holding him in place. He could almost hear him whispering against his ear. _"Cum for me."_

Fierce pleasure detonated deep in his balls and exploded up his spine. He arched and came up on his toes. His mouth opened on a gasping moan he could not hold back. Thick, hot fluid pumped up and out, spilling over his hand to spatter against the white tile, prolonging the brutally pleasurable clenching inside him. His choking gasps echoed in the small glass-enclosed shower stall.

Kimihiro collapsed against the white tile, panting softly, his heart still pounding. He closed his eyes against the burning in his cheeks._I will __**not**__ be embarrassed over something every teenaged male does! _

But did other guys imagine being pinned to the wall by another guy while they were doing it?

_Shut up!_ He swung out a fist as though to beat away the thought. Utterly refusing to think of anything at all, he turned off the water and toweled himself dry. While cleaning up the shower, he went over the following day's lunch menu. His thoughts automatically circled to what Doumeki had requested, which led him straight back into the kiss in the hallway.

He'd damned near cum in his pants. If Yuuko hadn't stopped them, he probably _would _have.

He cringed. How the hell was he supposed to face Doumeki tomorrow after…that? Would Doumeki try to kiss him again? A warm syrupy feeling coiled low in his belly.

_Stop that!_ He threw the cleaning rag against the wall. _If he tries it again, I'll punch him! _He raised his fist and shook it._ I will! Definitely._ He collected the cleaning rag and put it back in the basket under the sink by the other cleaning supplies. Who the hell did Doumeki think he was anyway? Going around and_kissing _people! _Overgrown, arrogant, pervert! _

Kimihiro stepped into fresh boxers, then shrugged into his sleeping robe, and carried his uniform out into the bedroom proper. Automatically he opened the sliding closet door to collect a fresh uniform, and dump his clothes into the laundry hamper.

Doumeki's masculine scent rose from the hamper.

Kimihiro shivered and slammed the closet door closed. He slapped off the light and practically bolted to the bed bury his head under the pillows.

Morning came at its usual time, and Kimihiro sat up among the butterfly curtains to once again, start yet another school day. He yawned and stretched. He hadn't dreamed at all. In fact, he couldn't remember sleeping quite so soundly in ages.

The day was already starting out well.

Take a shower. _Don't think about last night._ Dress. _Still no whiskers. _Fold his robe, make the bed, leave the room, and follow the landmarks to the kitchen. Put on the smock, finish last night's dishes, start the breakfast, make the lunches… _Don't think about last night. _

The kitchen door slammed open and a sweet childish voice called out. "Good morning Watanuki-kun!"

Kimihiro turned with a smile. "Good morning Mokona…"

A round black blur lunched toward him and landed against his face. A wet kiss planted itself against his mouth.

Kimihiro tipped backwards, his arms pin-wheeling. "Gyaaa!" He landed on his butt and grabbed the fuzzy black bunny creature, pulling it from his face. "What are you doing?"

Mokona giggled. "I thought you liked kissing?"

Kimihiro stared at him. "What?"

A slender white furry blur snaked up his pant leg and writhed around in his clothes.

"Hieee!" Kimihiro released Mokona to writhe about on the floor in an attempt to catch the ticklish pipe fox. Had the fox always spent_that _much time snaking around in his boxers?

A feminine chuckle came from the doorway. "Ah, enjoying your morning I see."

The pipe fox slid from Kimihiro's collar to press tiny licks to his cheek.

Sprawled flat on the floor, Kimihiro stroked a finger down the pipe fox's tiny head, thoroughly thankful that he washed the tiled kitchen floor every single day. "Good morning Yuuko-san."

"A letter has arrived for you."

Kimihiro sat up. "A letter, for me?"

Resplendent in her flowing morning robes of red and purple with gold butterflies, Yuuko smiled and nodded. "A very formal letter, and it was hand delivered, so set another plate for breakfast."

Kimihiro climbed to his feet and dusted off his smock. "Where is it?"

Yuuko reaching into her voluminous sleeve and pulled out what looked like a rather ornately folded paper tied crosswise with a slender blue cord with silver tassels. "You may read it during breakfast."

Kimihiro frowned. "Why not now?"

Yuuko shook her head. "This is a formal letter, which requires proper appreciation."

Kimihiro puzzled over that. "So… Not in the kitchen, eh?"

Yuuko winked. "Correct." She turned away and waved the decorative paper. "No dawdling in the kitchen today!"

Kimihiro folded his arms and snorted. "You just want to see what it says."

Yuuko's laughter trilled from the hallway. "Absolutely!"

Kimihiro turned back to the stove and the western omelets and shredded potato hash browns he was making. Who would write him a letter? Only a handful of people even knew he was here. And how had they delivered it? As far as he knew, no one could even pass the gateposts without needing a wish granted.

Only one way to find out…

Kimihiro finished packing the bag with bento box lunches and the thermos of tea, then carried it out to set it by the front door with his school briefcase.

Just to one side of the stair leading up into the house proper, sat a pair of black shoes, an identical briefcase, and a very tall, thoroughly familiar cloth case.

Doumeki was here.

Kimihiro took a deep steadying breath. _I can handle this. _He turned back toward the kitchen and the breakfast he was about to serve. _Don't think about last night. Don't think about last night. Don't think about last night. _

Seated at the dining table on the back porch, Kimihiro concentrated on eating his omelet while feeding tidbits to the pipe fox wrapped around his neck. He was very careful not to look over at Doumeki on his immediate left.

Yuuko cooed over her six cheese and ham omelet, eating each bite with relish. "You are such a wonderful cook, Watanuki-kun!"

Mokona bounced in his seat. "Watanuki-kun will make a good wife!"

Kimihiro brandished his fork. "I can't be a mother or a wife, you overfed pork bun! I am not a _woman_!"

Yuuko twirled her fork and smiled. "Oh, I don't know… I think you could very easily act the part of both wife and mother." She set her folk down. "At the very least, a domestic partner."

Kimihiro sighed. "I'm only good at housework because I had to do it, not because I wanted to do it."

Yuuko shook her head. "You are practically a wizard in the kitchen, Watanuki-kun. That comes from true talent." She smiled slyly. "And dedication to one's craft."

Watanuki folded his arms and snorted. "It comes from having nothing better to do when one can't leave the house because of attacking spirits."

Yuuko clasped her hands. "Then you must be so happy to finally be able to come and go as you please without being chased!"

Kimihiro rubbed his aching brow. "Oh yes, I can come and go as I please, as long as I'm accompanied by my near-constant bodyguard." Out of the corner of his eye, he took the tiniest glimpse at Doumeki.

Doumeki sat silently, his arms folded and his expression even blander than normal. He'd finished every scrap on his plate.

Yuuko lifted her chin. "See, Doumeki-kun, you _are _appreciated!" She thrust her hand into her sleeve. "And on that note, Watanuki-kun, here is your letter!" She withdrew the cord-tied folded paper and presented it to Kimihiro with a flourish.

Kimihiro untied the blue cord, unfolded the colored paper, and realized that he was holding an extremely fine sheet of parchment. The top had been stained pale blue and the bottom a golden wood tone. The very center held a beautifully stylized, prancing white stallion caparisoned in blue fringe. To the right of the horse was a long bow. A poem was written to either side of the white horse.

_The true drawn arrow _

_-- arches the quivering bow. _

_A breath and release. _

_The shadows part around you. _

_Tender are your scolding lips. _

The red wax seal on the far left was a pair of crossed arrows with what looked like horse-shoes instead of arrowheads under a stylized diving crane with its wings spread wide.

It was Doumeki's personal seal. The letter was from him.

Yuuko leaned over Watanuki's shoulder. "Oh…! The poem is done in the Heian _tanka _style! The horse painting is particularly lovely." She leaned past Watanuki to look over at Doumeki. "How very traditional, I'm impressed!"

Mokona leaned against her arm. His mouth opened wide. "Ooooh! Pretty!"

Watanuki swallowed. It wasn't pretty, it was gorgeous. The whole thing was hand done, from the watercolor stain on the parchment to the horse painted in the center. He hadn't seen anything like it outside of a museum. "This is…incredible." He looked over at Doumeki. "And this is for me?"

Doumeki nodded, his gaze firmly on the table. There was the slightest pink to his cheeks. "I copied the horse from one of my grandfather's prints."

Doumeki shook his head, stunned. "How long did it take you to do all this?"

Doumeki's cheeks darkened from pink to red. "I've been working on for…a while."

Yuuko set her chin on her hand and propped her elbow on the table. "Several months, at the very least." She smiled.

Doumeki nodded.

Yuuko clasped her hands together and sighed dramatically. "What a romantic love letter!" She looked over at Watanuki. "Don't you think?"

Watanuki stared at her. "Eh?"

Yuuko smiled. "Watanuki-kun, that poem was written just for you, can't you tell?"

Watanuki looked back over the poem and frowned at the last line._Tender are your…_ He turned to glare at Doumeki. "_Scolding_ lips?"

Doumeki lifted his cup of tea and glanced over at Watanuki. His lips lifted in the tiniest of curves. He nodded, and sipped.

Watanuki waved his hand. "Wait, are you saying you _like_ when I yell at you?"

Yuuko smiled. "Actually, I think he's saying he likes having a way to silence you."

Doumeki glanced at Yuuko, then sipped his tea.

Watanuki slapped a hand across his forehead. "Only you would write a _sarcastic _love letter!" He froze. _Love letter…_ His heart began to pound. This was a _love _letter from _Doumeki._ He slowly turned to look at Doumeki. His heart was beating so hard, he could barely get the words out. "You're in love, with _me_?"

Doumeki set his cup down, and looked Watanuki dead in the eye. "Yes."

Mokona bounced at Yuuko's elbow. "Spring-spring! Love-love! Spring has come to Watanuki-kun!"

A shudder wracked Kimihiro's body. His mind went completely blank. He very carefully folded the letter.

Yuuko snatched it from his hand. "I'll hold that for you!" She shoved the folded parchment back into her sleeve.

Kimihiro stared his empty hands then slowly rose and collect the breakfast dishes.

Yuuko grinned at Doumeki. "That went well, don't you think?"

Doumeki snorted. "It certainly shut him up, for once."

Kimihiro shot a glare at Doumeki. "Shut who up?" He snatched Doumeki's plate and cup. "You are such a massive pain in my ass! Who asked _you_ to come into my life and turn everything upside down? Who? Not _me_…!"

Doumeki rolled his eyes and stuffed his index finger into the ear closest to Kimihiro.

By the time Kimihiro snatched up the bag with the lunches and stepped into his shoes, he was in a fine refreshing lather. "Overgrown, muscle-bound, arrogant, perverted, _pain_ in my _ass_…! Just _see_ if I ever invite you to dinner again!"

Yuuko chuckled. "You don't invite him, I do."

Kimihiro grabbed his briefcase. "Because you're in on it! I know you are, so don't even try to deny it!"

Yuuko snapped out yet another fan that perfectly matched the pattern on her robes. She lifted it to shield her broad grin. "You are so suspicious, Watanuki-kun. Love-spells are not my forte."

Doumeki silently put on his shoes, then lifted his bow case and slid his arm through the long strap.

Yuuko lifted her chin. "Watanuki-kun, make sure you walk back with Doumeki-kun."

Kimihiro froze, then turned sharply on his heel. "What? Again?"

Yuuko pointed at Kimihiro with her fan. "Don't you want to walk home with your new boyfriend?"

_Boyfriend…?_ Kimihiro felt the blood leave his cheeks, and a small screech escaped his lips. "I'm going! Good-bye!" He headed for the gateposts that marked the edge of her compound at top speed.

Doumeki followed close at his heels.

They rushed through the gateposts and took a sharp left onto the sidewalk, stepping right past a delicate origami fox folded from violet paper.

Yuuko went to her gate, lifted the origami fox, and unfolded the paper. Her brows drew close together and she frowned. "Oh dear, I thought this might happen." She leaned out and looked up the street.

Kimihiro and Doumeki were little more than fast moving blurs heading toward their high school.

She sighed and read the poem once more.

_Last night _

_ -- your brief touch, _

_Sparked longing_

_ -- for your regard. _

_Such tender beauty _

_Yet to know a warm embrace _

_My sword it weeps,_

_ -- For your sheath. _

Yuuko shook her head and swept back up the stone path, heading toward her house.

Mokona bounced up onto her shoulder. "Is that another letter?"

Yuuko nodded. "I'm afraid so." She tilted the letter so the small creature could read it.

Mokona frowned. "Nicely done, but very bold."

"I've been expecting something like this." Yuuko swept up onto her porch and opened her door. "Watanuki-kun is entirely too_attractive _for his own good."

Original poems in the Heian _Tanka_ style by Ookami Kasumi.


	5. Chapter 5

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

* * *

_**Chapter Five**_

* * *

Watanuki Kimihiro slumped at his desk by the window, his chin propped up on his fist, watching the teacher scribble noisily on the blackboard. He turned to stare out at the drizzling rain sliding down the window, and wished to heaven that lunch time would never come. 

First thing that morning in homeroom, cute, adorable, lovable, and charming Himawari-chan had sat down next to him at her desk, beamed her spectacular smile, and announced that she had a class representatives' meeting to go to during lunch.

That meant Kimihiro would be having his lunch all alone -- with Doumeki, who had just admitted to being in love with him.

Then during third period, it started to rain.

That meant he would be having his lunch all alone with Doumeki_indoors_, most likely on the emergency stairs leading to the fire escape -- where no one else ever went. He'd originally chosen the emergency stairs for lunch _because_ no one ever went there, making it pretty much spirit free. However, _because_ no one ever went there, he would be having lunch with Doumeki, who had just admitted to being in love with him, in complete privacy where_anything_ could happen.

Kimihiro covered his face with his hands. Doumeki was in love with him. How the hell had _that_ happened? And when…? There had been no sign of Doumeki feeling anything towards him, other than annoyance.

Yes, Doumeki had saved his life more than once, in fact, more than twice… He ground his teeth and fisted his hand around his pencil._Okay fine, a bunch of times!_ But Doumeki always seemed to be so pissed off after doing it, like, it had been the last thing he'd wanted to do. To make matters worse, every time he'd even come close to making an apology, the big brute had stared at him as though his continued existence was a complete inconvenience, as though saving his life was something he _had_ to do, not something he wanted to do.

It was _that_ look on his face that made it so hard to make any sort of apology sound sincere. And then, when he _did_ get the apology out, Doumeki always, always, _always_ looked…disgusted, like, an apology was the _last_ thing he wanted. The only gratitude Doumeki seemed to find acceptable was food. So that's what he did for him, every single day.

So, where the hell had this…love come from? Right up until that morning's declaration, he'd been convinced that Doumeki didn't like him at all.

Well, okay, maybe last night's kiss was something of an indication, but that _could _have been just another way to tease him.

Except, apparently, it wasn't. Apparently, Doumeki's kiss was exactly what it was supposed to be, a declaration of…feelings.

Kimihiro groaned. _Doumeki is in love with me. Great… Now what do I do? How do I face him? What do you say in situations like this? _

The teacher's voice cut through Kimihiro's reveries. "Your homework for tonight is…"

Only five more minutes before the lunch bell rang.

Kimihiro slumped lower, setting his chin on the desk while scribbling down his assignment. Insane butterflies were doing spastic loop the loops in his belly. _I don't wanna go._

But part of him did. Some sneaky, underhanded, warm and gushy, perverted part of him was actually looking forward to eating lunch with Doumeki -- in complete privacy.

_Shut up!_ Kimihiro leaned down and banged his forehead on his desk as quietly as he could. _I do NOT want to be alone with him! I don't know what to say to him! What if he tries to kiss me again?_

What if he didn't?

The pang in his heart caught him completely off guard. It actually felt like…regret. _No, no, no…! _Kimihiro knocked his head against the desktop a little harder. _I do NOT want to be kissed by Doumeki!_

Even though he was really, really good with his tongue.

Kimihiro shivered. A warm syrupy feeling uncoiled in his belly and began to trickle downward. His pants tightened just a bit. He froze._What the hell…?_ He was getting…excited? _Oh God, no not that! Not NOW!_ He grabbed his head and tugged on his hair. _Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! _Unfortunately, the part of him behind the zipper in his pants was definitely not listening to anything his brain had to say. It decided all on its own to rise to half-mast.

Kimihiro rested his aching brow against the desktop and bit back a groan. _This is sooo messed up. _He covered his head with his arms._ I don't want a…a boyfriend!_

The bell rang announcing lunch.

The teacher rose from his desk. "Rise."

The students rose from their desks.

Surreptitiously tugging his long shirt down over the front of his pants, Kimihiro rose too. He knew good and well that his face was bright red.

"Bow."

The entire class bowed.

"Enjoy your lunch!"

The students around him exploded from their desks with an excited burst of chatter.

Kimihiro grabbed his briefcase and his textbooks. It was time to go back to his locker to get the bento lunches, and face his doom.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Kimihiro pulled the carry bag with the two bento boxes and the thermos of tea from his locker. His _condition_ hadn't alleviated in the least. He was still…excited. _Stupid body…_ _Would wrapping cold wet paper towels around…my problem, make it go away?_

"Oi."

Kimihiro blinked. Getting really, really pissed off was also a good option. He took a deep steadying breath, slammed his locker closed, and turned sharply to his right to look Doumeki straight in the eye. "My name is not 'oi'!"

Lounging against the very next locker in his pristine white summer uniform with his arms folded, and absolutely no expression what so ever on is face, Doumeki locked gazes with Kimihiro. "It's raining."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Thank you for that oh so informative weather report." He hefted the bag with the boxed lunches over his shoulder and leveled a glare at the other boy. "I only sit next to the _window_ in_ every single class_!" He stepped past him, heading for the emergency stairs. His collar was suddenly far too tight. He choked and jerked to a halt. "What the…?" He turned.

Doumeki had grabbed him by the collar.

"Will you cut that out?" He swatted at the hand caught in his collar. "I am _not_ a kitten!"

Doumeki snorted and released him. "Are you sure?" His lips curved upward in his customary slight smirk. "You yowl like one."

Every hair on Kimihiro's body rose in indignation. "_What_ did you say?" This was the guy that was supposed to be in love with him? Maybe last night had been just another one of his massive delusions. It was possible…

The larger boy rolled his eyes and waved his hand in dismissal. "They're painting the stairs."

"Eh?" Kimihiro blinked. "Painting the stairs? _Our_ stairs?" He slumped. "Damn it!" He pressed a hand to his suddenly throbbing forehead. "Now, where are we going to eat?"

Doumeki started walking up the hall. "I know a place."

Kimihiro trotted after him until he was walking in step beside him. "Not the roof stairs, I hope?"

Doumeki glanced over at Kimihiro and frowned. "Are they bad?"

Kimihiro nodded. "Really bad." He sighed. "For me anyway."

Doumeki shrugged. "It's not the roof stairs."

Kimihiro nodded. "Good."

Doumeki pushed open one of the double doors to reveal a well-lit smallish, gray-walled room with a wooden lectern positioned in the far right corner, and not anything else, not even chairs. The floor rose in three curving tiers along the back and it was completely carpeted, which made a nice change from the hardwood stairs. However, there wasn't one single window.

Kimihiro pushed the other door open and glanced about looking for signs of vaporous movement in the corners. "It seems clean." He frowned at the gray padding on the walls. "Is that soundproofing?"

"It's a music room." Doumeki strode in and sat down on the carpeted top tier. "This is where the choral group used to practice."

"Oh…" Kimihiro walked in, set his bag on the top tier, then sat down to unpack the lunches. "Used to?"

Doumeki leaned back on his elbows, his gaze wandering around the small room. "The choral group moved to a bigger room in the new wing last winter."

Kimihiro offered him a flat square box, some wooden chop-sticks, and a paper napkin. "So who uses it now?"

Doumeki took the box and pried the lid off. "No one, as far as I know."

"Ah…" Kimihiro pulled out the thermos. "That's probably why the room is clean of spirits." He filled two plastic cups with chilled and sweetened orange pekoe tea. "No people means, no feelings for the spirits to feed on." He offered Doumeki a cup.

Doumeki took the cup and tilted his head to one side. "Feelings…?"

"Emotions." Kimihiro pried open his bento box and smiled sourly. "Misery attracts company, really nasty company." He tapped a finger over his off-colored right eye. "Now that you can see what I see, go take a look at the roof stairs sometime."

Doumeki frowned slightly. "The roof stairs?"

Kimihiro snapped apart his chop-sticks and poked at his food. "I think a lot of the people spending time up the roof are angry or depressed. Those kinds of feelings draw the small dark crawly spirits." He crooked his fingers and wiggled them. "You can't miss them, there are lots of them." He shuddered. _Lots and lots of them…_ He'd found out the hard way.

Doumeki brandished a piece of rolled egg in his chopsticks. "I'd heard there were rats?"

Kimihiro shook his head. "Not possible. Rats don't like those spirits any more than I do."

"Hmmm…" Doumeki chewed then swallowed. "But people have said they've seen them?"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Denial. Even when a spirit is _visibly_ right there in front of them they'll insist it's something else." He speared a vegetable with vicious intent. "Even if you tell them, 'it's a spirit,' they won't accept it." His hand tightened on his chopsticks, his knuckles turning white. "If you insist, they'll just call you a liar." _Or worse._ He bit the vegetable in half.

Doumeki frowned slightly at Kimihiro. "Oh…" He popped another bite into his mouth and chewed.

Kimihiro sighed in relief and took that opportunity to take a more few bites of his lunch. The quiet was near total, but it was somehow relaxing. It was kind of nice to talk about the things he saw with someone that didn't automatically think he was a liar, or a lunatic. He snorted. _Scratch that. Doumeki knows I'm telling the truth and still thinks I'm crazy._

Doumeki closed the lid to his bento box. "So, no rats?"

Kimihiro scowled at Doumeki. "Must we talk about rats while eating? Can't we talk about something else?"

"All right." Doumeki turned to look about the room, his gaze focused on nothing in particular, his expression perfectly bland. "Where do you want to go?"

Kimihiro paused, the piece if chicken in his chopsticks dangling before his lips. "Go?" He bit down and chewed.

"For a date."

Kimihiro damned near spat his mouthful back out. He turned and stared, all thought coming to a complete and utter halt, except for that one word. He swallowed, hard. "D-d-d-d-d-d-…?"

Doumeki turned to look Kimihiro dead in the eye, his eyes bright gold. "Yes, a date. That's what you're supposed to do with your boyfriend, right?" His mouth tightened into a thin straight line.

_Boyfriend…_ Kimihiro's jaw dropped. _He said that so easily._ "Uh…" He scrambled for something, _anything_ to say.

Doumeki's expression abruptly flattened out. His lips relaxing a fraction into neither a smile, nor a frown, his brows neither up nor down. His eyes seemed to go from gold to something closer to a yellowish muddy brown, as though the light behind them had blown out. "Never mind." He turned away.

Kimihiro felt something twist painfully inside him. He'd seen that expression before on Doumeki, right after the incident with the woman at the park. It was bleak acceptance. The look one wore when one gave up all hope of ever being anything other than…lonely. He'd seen it on his own face in the mirror one too many times not to recognize it. On Doumeki it was just _wrong_. Doumeki was stubborn, arrogant, sarcastic, and a pain in the ass, not...hopeless, or lonely.

It hurt just to look at it.

_Ah…crap. _Kimihiro covered his face with his hands. _The ass really __**is**__ in love with me. _It wasn't a delusion, it was real, and now he had to do something about it. _Crap, crap, crap! _He took a deep breath and uncovered his face. "I have no idea what to suggest. I've never been on a real d-date."_There, I said it._

Doumeki's head whipped around, his eyes wide, his mouth slack.

Kimihiro very nearly laughed. The overgrown lummox had turned so fast, he probably hurt something. _Idiot._ He buried his amusement under the most ferocious scowl he could come up with. "Well, _I haven't_!" He looked away and folded his arms across his chest. "Every place I went that even came close to being a date…" He turned and jabbed a finger toward Doumeki. "YOU went too!"

Doumeki blinked.

Kimihiro waved his hands. "And of course, something weird always happened to ruin it." He picked up the bento boxes to put them back in the carry bag. "Seriously, I have no idea where we could go…" He swallowed. "…For a d-date." Oddly, it was getting easier to say. He stuffed the tea thermos in the bag and released a long calming breath, only to realize something else. "Ah, crap…! I'll have to arrange for time off from work at Yuuko's." He removed his glasses to rub at his eyes. "_That's_ going to be a _real_ pain."

His glasses were plucked from his fingers.

Kimihiro looked up. "Eh?"

Doumeki gently folded the glasses closed and set them to one side.

Kimihiro reached for them. "Oi, I need those!"

Doumeki captured Kimihiro's head with both hands. "Not now you don't."

Kimihiro suddenly realized that he was in a windowless room, where no one ever wet, and behind a closed door with… "D-doumeki, wait…!"

"No." He lunged in and pressed his lips to Kimihiro's.

Kimihiro stiffened. _He's kissing me? Again? _Dismay and embarrassment fought with a weird kind of giddy relief, holding him perfectly still against Doumeki's lips.

Doumeki's tongue slid across Kimihiro's lips in a warm wet caress, then his teeth caught the bottom lip in a tender bite.

Kimihiro gasped and grabbed on to Doumeki's wrists. He wasn't quite sure if he meant to pry Doumeki's hands off, or hold them right where they were.

Doumeki's tongue surged past Kimihiro's parted lips to engage his tongue in a hot, wet, devouring, duel.

Thick drugging warmth exploded in Kimihiro's belly just as during the last kiss, except faster, hotter, and far more urgent. Heady fumes seemed to drift up into his head as though he'd downed a full cup of hot sake. The intoxicating heat spilled outward and downward at dizzying speed, robbing his limbs of strength, yet tightening ferociously in his groin. _Oh god… I'm getting hard, really, really hard._ He moaned.

Doumeki moaned in reply, then eased back, breaking the kiss.

Kimihiro blinked in confusion, Doumeki's wrists sliding from his hands. "What…?"

Doumeki leaned over to collect Kimihiro's glasses, unfolded them, then gently set them on Kimihiro's nose. "We'll continue this later."

"Later…?" Kimihiro could not figure out what had happened. One second they were kissing and the next…

The school bell rang indicating the end of the lunch period.

Kimihiro's heart clenched with icy alarm. "Oh shit!" He scrambled for the bag with the bento boxes and thermos on wobbly knees.

Doumeki rose smoothly to his feet and headed for the doors. "You are so slow."

"I am _not_ slow!" Kimihiro shouldered the bag hurried to the door. A sharp ache in an extremely inconvenient place stopped him in his tracks. He winced. "Che!" He was violently hard, and it was not comfortably…situated. He was forced to adjust…himself. "Give me a second, you pushy bastard!"

Doumeki flashed a smirk and walked away. "Hurry up, or you'll be late."

Kimihiro finished his adjustments and stomped through the door after Doumeki. _Insufferable, arrogant, perverted, completely self-centered, ass…! _Once again, he was walking through the student crowded halls with an erection, only this one wasn't at half-mast. His cheeks heated and he ducked his chin to hide his face behind his long bangs. "Inconsiderate bastard…"

Doumeki stopped, letting Kimihiro catch up with him, and flashed his smirk. "Having problems?"

Kimihiro stiffened, then looked up and shot a glare at Doumeki. "And_whose_ fault is that?"

Doumeki fell into step beside him, his smirk still firmly in place. "We could go back and finish?" He shrugged. "We'd have to skip class though."

Kimihiro choked, and God help him, but his cock actually throbbed with interest. He shook his head firmly. "I have a test. "

Doumeki lifted his arms and set both hands behind his head. "Pity."

"Doing that sort of thing at school…" Kimihiro eyed him. "You really _are_ a pervert."

Doumeki snorted. "What we were doing isn't perverted." He leaned close to Kimihiro and whispered. "But we can go back and I can show you perversion?"

A burst of anger lifted the hair on Kimihiro's neck. "_Must_ you be thoroughly annoying? Do you _practice_ or something?" He turned to wave his fist at the arrogant ass beside him. "Because you certainly are an expert at _pissing me the hell off_!"

Doumeki pursed his lips thoughtfully, then nodded. "Yes."

_Yes…?_ Kimihiro nearly tripped in surprise. He shot a glare at Doumeki. "Yes, what? Yes, you practice, or yes, you must be thoroughly annoying?"

Doumeki's golden gaze slid to Kimihiro's. His lips curved upward in an exceptionally smug smirk.

Kimihiro shivered. He stabbed a long finger toward his nemesis. "_Don't_ you smile at _me_!"

Doumeki leaned just out of range of Kimihiro's finger and his brows lifted. "Should I frown?"

"Ah!" Kimihiro threw up his hands. "Will someone _please_ tell me _why_ I put up with you?"

Doumeki snorted and stopped in the middle of a cross hallway. "Obviously, for the same reason I put up with you."

"Eh…?" Kimihiro halted at his side and eyed Doumeki suspiciously. "What reason is that?"

Doumeki turned sharply to the left. "My class is this way." He strode off, heading down the hall. "Later." He lifted his hand in a wave without bothering to look back.

"Wait a minute!" Kimihiro lifted his foot with every intention of chasing him down, and froze. His class was in the other direction, and he really did have a test. He turned on his heel and stomped toward his class. "He won't escape me that easily! I'll see him in the class after this one, and then I'll _really_ give him a piece of my mind!"

It was a surprisingly pleasant thought.

Kimihiro stiffened. _What the hell…?_ He was _looking forward_ to seeing Doumeki in the following class? How was that possible? He was painfully embarrassed, seriously pissed off, and still very much erect, but at the same time, he also felt weirdly…happy.

He pressed a hand to his forehead. "Hmm…" Well, he was a little warm. Maybe he was coming down with a cold, or something? He nodded firmly. That had to be it because… "_Something_ isdefinitely_ wrong_ with me."


	6. Chapter 6

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

* * *

_**Chapter Six**_

* * *

Kimihiro passed his calculus test to the student in front of him with immense satisfaction. With the way his studying was progressing, it looked like the exams were going to be a breeze.

When he first moved into Yuuko's odd house, he honestly thought he was going to have to struggle to get his schoolwork done between making snacks and serving sake. To his surprise, Yuuko was actually adamant about studying and doing homework, _after_ serving the snacks and sake of course. However, that wasn't the biggest surprise.

About a week after he'd officially moved in, Mokona the chubby bunny-creature hopped up on the kitchen counter where he was doing his homework, scowled at Kimihiro's notebook and shook his head. "Watanuki, those calculations are incorrect."

He'd been so shocked that Mokona could even say those words that he'd just stared at the creature completely dumbfounded. The next shock happened only a moment later.

Mokona snatched the pencil from his fist, grabbed the notebook, and scribbled out a complicated formula in a very precise hand. "This way… Do it this way, Watanuki."

Watanuki did it that way, and discovered that it not only worked, it actually made sense. He shook his head, stunned. "I had no idea you were so good at math."

Mokona put on the biggest widest grin he could. It took up eighty percent of his body mass. "Of course Mokona is good at math! Mokona was made to do advanced calculations." He leaned closer and whispered loudly. "Magic is merely very advanced mathematics." He pointed at Kimihiro's calculus textbook. "Much, much, much more complicated than this."

A week after that, Kimihiro was back in the kitchen snarling at his English homework when the other big surprise happened.

Yuuko suddenly leaned over his shoulder and scowled. "No wonder you're having problems. Your dictionary is completely wrong for what you're trying to do."

He startled so hard, he very nearly toppled off the stool he was sitting on. He stared at her. "It is?"

Yuuko nodded and turned away. "Come, you can use mine."

Kimihiro followed her with deep suspicion. "How much is this going to cost me?" Truthfully, it didn't really matter. If she had something that would make his homework easier to do, he wanted it.

Yuuko giggled. "You know me so well!" She tapped a finger against her bottom lip. "How about, you make me some Cherries Jubilee?"

Kimihiro nodded. "I can do that." He actually had the cherries on hand to make that.

Yuuko smiled. "Brandied, Cherries Jubilee."

Mokona popped up from behind and hopped onto Kimihiro's head. "Me too! Make Mokona some too!"

"Ah!" Kimihiro threw up his hands to grab the little beast off his head, but missed the fast moving black creature. "What is it with you two and booze…?"

Yuuko, it turned out, had a whole section in the store room that was nothing but dictionaries, one for every language there was, and a few languages he'd never even heard of. Kimihiro stared at the entire wall of language dictionaries, then turned to frown at her. "So how many languages _do_ you speak?"

She flicked open yet another fan that blended perfectly with the pattern on her flowing robes and chuckled. "All of them."

His mouth fell open. _All _of them? Knowing her it was highly probable that she really _could_ speak every language there was. He shook his head. "Then why all the dictionaries if you can speak the languages already?"

"Because Watanuki…" Yuuko closed her fan and tapped him on the top of the head, not exactly gently. "Speaking languages is one thing, reading and writing them is another whole bowl of _kimchee_."

So, between Yuuko's extremely informative and pictorial dictionaries in English, French, and German, and Mokona's tutoring in math, Kimihiro was getting some of the best grades he'd ever had.

He rose from his desk fully confident that he'd passed his calculus test with flying colors.

However, the best part was that concentrating on the test had thoroughly succeeded in alleviating the _condition_ he'd been suffering since lunch. Just in time too, his next class was Physical Education. The last thing he needed was to walk around in loose gym-shorts sporting a boner.

Kimihiro stepped out of the locker room and onto the school yard, and stopped dead. He suddenly realized that he'd been sorely mistaken. The last thing he needed was to see Doumeki stretching and flexing in gym-shorts. The thin white tank top and slightly overlong shorts did nothing to disguise the fact that every inch of Doumeki bulged and rippled, including his butt.

The view was rather…stirring.

And a direct blow to his masculinity.

Kimihiro turned sharply around, clutching his t-shirt in hopes of slowing his pounding heart. _Good god, Jesu, and the Buddha…!_ When the hell had Doumeki gotten so damned muscular? Shooting a big bow _couldn't _be that strenuous.

Kimihiro crossed his arms and scowled at the grass between the toes of his sneakers. Nature was so damned unfair! Doumeki was only one month older, and an inch taller, but his body looked fully mature while _his_ body still looked like it belonged in middle school. He shook his head. _You'd think with all he running I do from monsters I'd be a lot more muscular._

Speaking of monsters…

He looked about sharply for weird flickers of color. Bad mood or not, standing in a wide open field all by himself was a really bad idea._Might as well paint "Come and get me!" on my shirt._ He jogged over to join the rest of his class in the soccer field. Forget pride. Survival was far more important. Doumeki might be a major pain in the ass, but he was also really good at keeping bad things away.

At the end of his PE class, Kimihiro stomped over to the outdoor sink, and turned on the cold water. The soccer game had ended in the usual fashion. Two parts gratifying, as he was actually faster on his feet, and better at dodging than most of the other players, and three parts frustrating. No matter what he succeeded in doing, a pass, a kick, a block, Doumeki had to ruin his accomplishments by going one better.

All those muscles of his were _really_ distracting.

He took off his glasses and scowled. "There is definitely,_definitely_ something wrong with me." Setting the glasses carefully on the ledge above the sink, he leaned down and splashed water on his face and neck. _I should __**not**__ be staring at Doumeki's…attributes._

However, his eyeballs apparently didn't have any intention of being any more sensible than his…libido.

"Stupid body…" With his eyes closed, he reached up and patted along the top of the sink's counter searching for the paper towels. His fingers encountered the porcelain counter top, and his glasses, but no towels. He opened one eye and squinted at the counter top. No paper towels. _Crap._ Sighing heavily, he pulled up the bottom of his t-shirt and used it to wipe his face.

"Oi."

Kimihiro stiffened in utter recognition, then something large and fluffy landed on top of his head and shoulders. Ice cold terror engulfed him.He shouted in alarm and grabbed for it, jerking the thing off of him, only to suddenly realize that it was merely a terrycloth hand towel. "What…?" He turned squinting dimly at the over-sized blur that could only be Doumeki. "What the hell are you doing…?"

The big blur folded his blurry arms across his blurry chest. "Use a towel."

Kimihiro ground his teeth. "In case you haven't noticed, there_wasn't_ one to use!"

The Doumeki blur snorted. "So you decided to strip in public?"

_Strip?_ Kimihiro blinked, then scowled. "Who's stripping? I'm just using the bottom of my shirt…!"

"The guys were staring at you."

Kimihiro snorted and used the towel to wipe the rest of the water from his face and neck. "So? People always stare at me." He rolled his eyes. "I'm weird, remember?"

With one overlong step, Doumeki closed the distance between them and grabbed him by the upper arm. His voice lashed out low and harsh. "You're also better looking than half the girls."

"_What?"_ That _couldn't _have come from Doumeki's mouth. "Are you _completely_ out of your mind?" Kimihiro grabbed for his glasses and jammed them on his face.

A very annoyed Doumeki came into focus. "Don't show off your body so carelessly."

Kimihiro frowned. "They're _guys_! What do they care?" He tugged on his captured arm. "And quit grabbing me, you pushy bastard!"

Doumeki yanked him close until they stood practically nose to nose. His eyes narrowed to hot gold flames and his jaw clenched to the point that Kimihiro could hear his teeth grinding. "Do you want to get dragged off and raped?"

Kimihiro's mouth fell open. "R-r-raped? By who?"

Doumeki ground his teeth and released Kimihiro's arm with a shove. "Pull your shirt down. Now."

Kimihiro wriggled his arm loose. "Are you short on B-vitamins, or something? Your temper is getting to be worse than mine." He pulled his shirt all the way down. "There, feel better now?" A flash of blue black, moving very close to the ground caught his eye. He turned sharply.

What appeared to be a small blue-black animal with tall triangular ears dropped into a sitting position in the grass about four body-lengths away.

Kimihiro frowned at it. What was a cat doing on the school grounds?

The animal tilted its head, lifted a long slender muzzle, and sniffed the air. A long thick furry tail flagged out behind it.

Kimihiro blinked. That was not a cat's tail. "Oh, it's a fox."

"What?" Doumeki looked sharply about. "Where?"

Staring straight at Kimihiro, the black fox stood up on four long slender legs, and its tail was joined by another tail, and another. It had three tails.

"It's right there." Kimihiro pointed. "What's it doing here?"

Doumeki stared down Kimihiro's pointing finger, frowned, then suddenly closed his left eye. He stiffened. "A fox."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "I just told you it was…"

Doumeki grabbed Kimihiro's upper arm, turned and headed for the locker room, dragging Kimihiro behind him.

"Oi!" Kimihiro stumbled after him. "Oi_! Oi! __**Oi**_ What do you think you're doing?"

Doumeki didn't even bother to look back. "That fox had three tails."

"Yeah, so?" He pulled at his recapture arm. "And would you _cut it out_ with the _grabbing_?"

"I could only see it with this eye." Doumeki tapped his brow over his right eye. "The eye I share with you."

Kimihiro felt a cold chill. "It was a spirit?"

Doumeki shoved Kimihiro through the open locker room door. "What do you think?"

Kimihiro tripped over the doorway and very nearly went sprawling. He turned and scowled ferociously. "I think you're being paranoid! So what if it was a…?" He glanced about.

The somewhat shadowed locker room was crowded with rows of tall slender lockers and guys in various states of undress. They were all standing perfectly still, and perfectly silent, staring at the two of them.

Kimihiro swallowed and dropped his voice to fierce whisper. "So what if it was…_that_? It wasn't _doing_ anything!"

Doumeki leaned close and whispered back, just as fiercely. "Yet."

Kimihiro threw up his hands. "Look, I'm the one that supposed to be paranoid -- not you!"

"Go get dressed." Doumeki turned and walked away.

"I _don't_ take orders from _you_!" Kimihiro grabbed the towel off his shoulders and threw it at Doumeki. "Ever!"

Doumeki turned and caught the towel out of the air. He snorted, then turned and kept walking.

In a fine froth, and spouting every invective he could possibly think of to describe just how insufferable Doumeki was, Kimihiro stomped over to his locker, grabbed his shower things, and stomped his way to the showers.

And to think, he'd actually _considered _going out on a date with the beast!

Kimihiro pulled the curtain to the shower stall as closed as he could get it, then went to turn on the water. One of the disadvantages to waiting for everyone else to finish showering was that the water was never, ever hot enough. He eyed the falling water dubiously then shoved his hand under the spray. It was barely tepid.

Apparently, he was taking a fast shower.

Sighing heavily, he dropped his uniform on the small stool, stripped out of his gym clothes, and grabbed his soap and washcloth. He stepped under the spray and shivered hard. _Make that, a really fast shower._ He drew the shower curtain as closed at it could go, which wasn't saying much, and started soaping and scrubbing.

The scent of vanilla filled the shower stall.

_Vanilla?_ Kimihiro froze in abject horror, then sniffed the bottle of liquid soap in his hand. Vanilla. He slammed his hand against the tiled wall. "Damn it!"

Someone whistled. "Whoa, hey! I smell perfume! Is there a girl in here?" Hoarse laughter followed.

Kimihiro capped the bottle and rinsed his washcloth as thoroughly as he could, then scrubbed faster, and harder. He _so_ did not need to be walking around school smelling like vanilla! How the hell, had he grabbed the wrong soap? He'd been oh so careful when he packed his gym bag, even with Mokona jumping up and down around him… He froze, then ground his teeth. "I'm going to _cook_ that damned meat bun!"

The outer curtains rattled.

Kimihiro stiffened. "Oi! There's somebody in here!"

"I know." The voice was deep, low, and very familiar.

_Oh shit!_ Kimihiro slammed back against the wall and shoved the facecloth in front of his groin.

The shower curtain was yanked open by an absolutely furious Doumeki wearing nothing but a small towel around his hips. "You_ idiot_!"

Kimihiro's temper flared white hot. _How dare he…?_ He opened his mouth to shout at the pushy bastard at the top of his lungs…

Doumeki lunged into the shower to press his broad hand over Kimihiro's mouth. He then crammed himself into the shower stall, slamming tight up against Kimihiro. With his free hand, he pulled the shower curtain closed.

Despite the decided chill to the shower's spray, and being pinned to the wet tile wall, Kimihiro was suddenly much warmer than before. However, the rather nice warmth was being provided by a practically naked Doumeki, and that was bad. Really, really bad. He grabbed onto the hand covering his mouth and pulled. What the hell was he doing?

Doumeki hissed in his ear. "Keep quiet, and keep still!"

The outer curtains rattled again. "So who's the little girl using vanilla shampoo?"

Kimihiro stiffened in shock. _What the…? _

Doumeki lifted his chin and spoke loudly. "My mother has a sense of humor."

Someone coughed. "Eh, Doumeki?" There was a weak chuckle. "Oh, ah…sorry to intrude."

Doumeki glared down at Kimihiro. "Fine. Don't do it again, Shinohara."

There was an audible gulp. "Eh, okay, sorry, sorry!" The outer curtains rattled once more.

Kimihiro was suddenly aware that while his brain had been occupied by what was happening beyond the shower curtain, his body had been paying attention to something else entirely. The warm, wet, muscular, and practically naked Doumeki that was pressed up against him, chest to chest, and belly to belly…and he was getting hard, again.

_Shit!_ He closed his eyes, hoping that maybe _not_ looking up at all those naked wet muscles right before his eyes, would settle him down. Instead, he was suddenly extremely aware that said naked wet muscles were in _direct contact_ with _his_ naked body from the chest down. The only thing separating complete contact was the facecloth he still held over his crotch, and Doumeki's very small towel.

Doumeki pulled his hand from Kimihiro's mouth and whispered harshly. "Vanilla soap? Just how stupid are you?"

Kimihiro lifted his free hand to dash the water from his eyes and whispered right back. "It wasn't _my _idea! Mokona switched my soap this morning!"

"Didn't you think to check?"

"I _did_ check! He must have switched it right after!"

"Keep your voice down."

"_My_ voice…?"

Doumeki took a deep breath, his chest pressing against Kimihiro's with its expansion. "Fine."

Kimihiro blinked. "Eh?"

Doumeki's mouth slammed down on Kimihiro's parted lips, his tongue surging in with aggressive determination.

Kimihiro jolted hard. Doumeki was kissing him again, for the third time, and only hours after his second kiss. A small sound of protest escaped his throat. _Damn it, I still haven't recovered from the last one! _

Doumeki groaned, low and deep. His arms rose to press against the wall, framing Kimihiro's body. He shifted slightly to the side.

Something wet smacked onto the shower floor, landing on Kimihiro's foot. He started, his eyes opening wide to stare into Doumeki's heated golden gaze. Kimihiro shifted his foot. It felt like…terry cloth. He bunched his fingers around the washcloth covering his groan and frowned. He still had it, so what…?

Doumeki's lids lowered and the most lascivious smirk Kimihiro had ever seen curved his lips. He whispered hoarse and deep. "If you wanted to feel me, all you had to do was ask."

_What the…?_ Kimihiro stared. "Feel…you?"

Doumeki shifted his hips a small amount from side to side.

Kimihiro suddenly became aware that something hot, rigid, and cylindrical was rubbing against the back of his hand. _Is that his…?_ His brain went completely blank for just a second, then every drop of blood he had left his face. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out but the smallest of squeaks. His throat was far too tight.

Doumeki's brows lifted, but the smirk remained firmly in place.

Kimihiro swallowed to get at least some of his voice back. "Is that your…towel on the floor?" His voice was soft, but nicely even. _Go me._

Doumeki nodded very slowly. His smirk widened.

So, against the back of his hand, that _was_ Doumeki's… His face became so hot that the icy shower actually felt good. "Oh." He swallowed again. There was a completely naked Doumeki pressed up against him. A completely naked, wet, muscular, and _erect_ Doumeki pressed up against him with only one teeny, tiny facecloth between them. _Eep!_ This was soooo not good. But he simply_couldn't_ make any part of himself move -- not even his mouth or his tongue.

Doumeki's hands slid down the wall, and settled on Kimihiro's shoulders.

Kimihiro froze, unable to think, unable to breathe.

With exquisite gentleness, his fingers slid downward, passing over Kimihiro's collarbones to and onto his chest. Doumeki's gaze dropped. "Your skin is so white, like…milk."

Kimihiro shivered. Doumeki's fingers were so…warm. "I don't get out much."

Doumeki's gaze lifted to lock on to Kimihiro's eyes. "I see." Slowly, his head lowered. He extended his tongue, and pressed it against the upper swell of Kimihiro's chest. Hot wetness stroked against Kimihiro's skin.

Kimihiro sucked in a sharp breath. It was so…warm, and so…exciting. He bit back a moan.

Doumeki's tongue passed over one erect nipple. The tongue flicked.

Kimihiro felt that flick all the way down to his dick, as though he'd been licked both places at the same time. A gasp exploded from his throat.

Doumeki's arms came around him, encircling his back and his hips, pulling him away from the wall and pelvis to pelvis. Doumeki lifted his head, dragging his tongue up Kimihiro's chest, then further up along the side of his neck. He bit down on the long muscle on the side of Kimihiro's throat.

Tingle raised the small hairs all over Kimihiro's body and a small moan slid past his lips. He tilted his head back, until only his shoulders were in contact with the tile. Gasping and trembling, he somehow held onto his facecloth, clutching that tiny square of fabric between them as though his life depended on it.

Doumeki delicately licked the edge of Kimihiro's ear, then whispered. "Let it go."

Kimihiro shivered, "Let what…?"

Doumeki chuckled softly. "Your washcloth."

Kimihiro froze. "I…" He _couldn't!_ He didn't want Doumeki to know about his…lack.

Doumeki breathed against the edge of Kimihiro's ear. "I want to feel you." He leaned up to look directly in into Kimihiro's eyes. "I want you to feel me."

Kimihiro's mouth fell open. _He wants me to…? _Something tugged at his fingers.

Doumeki's smirk appeared and he lifted a small soggy square of fabric up before Kimihiro's eyes. "Thank you."

Kimihiro stared at it. "But I didn't…!"

Doumeki snorted. "We only have half an hour before homeroom." He dropped the cloth on the floor. "We need to hurry if we want to finish."

Kimihiro stiffened. "Finish…?"

Doumeki caught Kimihiro by the wrist. "Turn your hand this way." He turned Kimihiro's hand over and pressed the palm directly on his cock.

Kimihiro's fingers wrapped around him before he realized what he was doing, and then it was too late. Doumeki was in his hand. He was hot, and hard, and…"Big."

Doumeki grinned. "Thank you." He cupped Kimihiro's balls in his palm.

Kimihiro choked. _Oh, God now he knows…!_

"Mm…" Doumeki sighed and shifted his hand to grasp Kimihiro's shaft. "Tighter, hold me tighter."

Kimihiro blinked and squeezed without thought, rather distracted by the fact that Doumeki was holding his most intimate self, and hadn't said anything…rude.

"Good, now, just do what I do, okay?"

Kimihiro nodded automatically, not quite sure what he'd just agreed to. He was far too painfully thankful that Doumeki had apparently not noticed anything amiss.

Doumeki's hand slid from Kimihiro's balls, down along his shaft, and over the flared crown.

Erotic delight jolted all the way up Kimihiro's spine and exploded in the back of his skull. He gasped and shuddered, reflexively pulling on the hot rigid shaft in his hand.

Doumeki hissed. "Yes, that's it. Just keep doing that." He slid back up Kimihiro's shaft and pulled on it again.

Kimihiro echoed him, drowning in the most incredible, most exciting sensations his body had ever felt. What he'd done before by himself in the shower had been good, but this was… _This_ was… A moan left his throat.

Doumeki leaned closer. "Faster."

Kimihiro obliged, pumping faster. Doumeki's warm scent wafted to him, redolent of sandalwood soap, and a trace of sweat, and something else, something…exciting. Kimihiro leaned down to press his nose up against the side of Doumeki's neck, breathing deeply to catch more of his scent of his skin. He stretched out his tongue to taste the moisture on his neck. He tasted slightly salt, and clean water, and something…else.

Doumeki groaned, and pumped Kimihiro harder, holding him tighter. He turned his head and dragged his tongue against the side of Kimihiro's neck, leaving tingles and small shivers in his wake.

Kimihiro echoed Doumeki's stroking hand, and his mouth, licking and nipping the side of Doumeki's neck, his breath escaping in short swift pants. It was getting hard to stand. He knees didn't want to work right and his toes wanted to curl.

Doumeki's arm tightened around him, this hand siding down to cup Kimihiro's ass cheek, the fingers digging in. "Yes." The word was gasped right up against Kimihiro's ear.

Kimihiro felt delicious tightening in his balls and a slight tingling burn. He was about to cum. He gasped for breath "I'm going to…"

Doumeki panted against his ear. "Me too." He choked, then groaned.

In Kimihiro's palm, Doumeki's cock jumped just a tiny bit. Hot thick wetness spilled over his hand and spattered his belly. The scent of semen filled the tiny shower stall.

Kimihiro blinked, surprised. _Doumeki…came…in my hand!_ It was shocking, and more than a little…exciting. Abruptly, something inside him clenched hard, and unbearable pleasure exploded from his balls all the way up his shaft, and then out. A soft cry was wrung from his throat. He bit down on Doumeki's neck to silence the sound. His body shuddered and released hot fluid into the hand wrapped around him.

Doumeki sighed, very softly.

Kimihiro shuddered and collapsed in Doumeki's arms, thoroughly wrung out.

Under the water's spray, Doumeki leaned back to cup Kimihiro's chin, tilting his face up and capture Kimihiro's gaze. He leaned down and pressed a very gentle kiss to Kimihiro's lips.

Kimihiro blinked. Hot tears suddenly formed and slid down. Shock swept through him. He blinked and raised a hand to his cheek. "Why am I…?"

Doumeki lifted his palms and thumbed the tears away. "Relax, it's just a reaction." He shrugged. "It happens sometimes." He then turned and stood under the spray, wiping at his belly, and quite blatantly washing his cock. "Damn, the water's actually getting warm again." He tugged the curtain aside and stepped out of the stall. "Hurry up and clean off, or we'll be late."

Kimihiro hurried.

Marching stiffly down the puddle strewn sidewalk toward Yuuko's house, Kimihiro scowled at Doumeki striding at his side. "There is definitely, _definitely _something wrong with_ you_."

Doumeki snorted. "What? It was just jerking off."

Kimihiro tripped on nothing in particular. "Just…" He turned his fiercest scowl on Doumeki. "How can you just…_say_ that! Out loud and _everything_!" He threw up his hands, very nearly tossing his bags in the process. "Are you a complete and utter uncouth beast…?"

"Beast?" Doumeki raised one brow, his gaze hot molten gold. "You're not the one with the bite mark."

Kimihiro stiffened. _Bite mark?_ Memory assailed him, reminding him quite graphically that during his final moments, he'd completely and utterly forgotten himself and had indeed bitten Doumeki's shoulder. Mortified heat filled his face.

Doumeki pursed his lips. "I had no idea you were so…" He flashed a smirk. "Kinky."

A small screech escaped Kimihiro's lips. "_I'm_ not the pervert here…! _I_ didn't start it!"

Doumeki tossed him a mild expressionless look. "You didn't say no either. Not once."

Kimihiro gasped then turned away, his shoulders hunched. "You are such an utter bastard! I can't believe I even associate with you…!"

With a soft sigh, Doumeki shrugged the shoulder band of his long bow off and looped it over his other shoulder, then plugged the ear closest to Kimihiro. The smallest of smiles curved his lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

* * *

_**Chapter Seven**_

* * *

Watanuki Kimihiro stomped up the flagstone walk to Yuuko's uncanny mansion. He wanted a shower, a change of clothes, and then a list of impossible household chores, so that he could_ forget_ this day had ever happened. "This day just _couldn't_ get any weirder!" He winced. Oh yes it could. In fact, it usually did. How could it_ not_ get any weirder? He lived in Yuuko's house.

Comparatively speaking, being chased by monsters was only mildly hair-raising.

Sighing heavily, he grabbed the right-hand pull bar to Yuuko's double front door, opened it, and stepped through. "I'm…!" He came to a complete stop, his hand upraised, ready to set his bags down. "…back?"

Before him, on the polished step that marked the house proper, was Yuuko in one of the most extravagant outfits Kimihiro had ever seen. Her hair was piled up in a fantastic array of loops and coils precariously held with long butterfly pins that twinkled with glass baubles. Her sumptuous layered robes of scarlet, maroon, purple, black, and gold flowed across the floor, quite literally filling the small hallway. The broad gold and violet_ obi_ sash was tied in an extravagant butterfly bow in the front. She was not smiling. "Watanuki." She held out his white coverall apron, the one with the hissing cat that Himawari had given him for his last birthday. "We have a guest."

Kimihiro frowned. "A guest?" He set his bags on the step and toed out of his shoes. _Not a customer?_

Yuuko nodded. "I need you to make…" She grinned and rattled off a whole list of exotic dishes.

Kimihiro collected his apron from her hand and mentally compared what she wanted verses what he was pretty sure he had in the refrigerator and cupboards. Assessment made, he nodded. "It'll take at least twenty minutes to get the fastest one to you, Yuuko-san." He shrugged into his apron.

Yuuko nodded. "That'll be just fine." She lifted both hands. "Oh, and go to the vault and get…" She listed three different kinds of sake. She lifted a finger and waggled it. "…And use the gold and silver service."

Kimihiro blinked and pulled the head kerchief from the apron's front pocket. _The gold and silver set?_ Whoever this guest was had to be someone of importance.

Yuuko lifted her head to look past Kimihiro's shoulder. "Ah, Doumeki-kun, how nice to see you!"

Kimihiro cringed. He'd forgotten that Doumeki was right on his heels.

Yuuko waved a hand toward the hallway behind her. "First door on the right, there's a set of formal robes for you to change into."

Doumeki nodded and toed out of his shoes.

Kimihiro stiffened. "How come_ he_ gets to wear robes?"

Yuuko's brow lifted and her smile broadened. "Do you really want to cook in long kimono sleeves?"

Kimihiro flinched. He had the ties to pull the sleeves back, but Yuuko's kimonos were all hand-dyed and embroidered with hand-spun silk thread. It was far too easy would do serious and irreparable damage to them. "No, but…"

Yuuko nodded. "I thought not." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Off to the kitchen with you!"

In a whirlwind blaze of speed, Kimihiro dashed to the vault. For once, he was grateful that Yuuko insisted that he clean out the entire monstrous room at least once a month. He actually had some idea as to where each item was stashed. Not that he would ever tell_her _that. After a short, but intense search involving a lot of bending and stretching, Kimihiro collected each of the requested items and dashed back out.

Balancing the three huge bottles and the broad teak box for the service, he raced to the kitchen. With only a minor bit of clinking and rattling, he set them all on the island counter and tore back out of the kitchen heading for his bedroom, and a shower. _I am __not__ going to cook and serve food while my body still smells like s-s-s…"_ He ground his teeth. _…Doumeki._ That was just rude.

He bolted through the door and right there in the middle of the room, he pulled off every piece of clothing he had on and dropped it where he stood. _No time for propriety._ He threw open his closet, pulled out the first pair of jeans and white t-shirt that came to hand, and made for the bathroom. "Ten minutes, all I need is ten minutes!"

He turned on the water and jumped in. It was _not _warm. "Ah! Shit!" He shivered hard and started scrubbing anyway.

The shower filled with the scent of vanilla.

Kimihiro froze for an entire breath, then screamed. "Meat-bun! You're _so_ dead!" He kept scrubbing. There just wasn't time to find any other soap. "As soon as I get my hands on your pudgy black hide, I'm going to deep fry you and put you in Doumeki's _bento_ for tomorrow's lunch!" He rinsed, shut off the water, toweled off at top speed, and started dressing.

His boxers wanted to stick to him in all the wrong places, and his jeans were a little…snug, especially on his butt. He frowned. Had he gained weight, or something? He shook his head. _No time to think about that now!_ He pulled the jeans on through sheer determination, zipped, buttoned, and ran out of the bathroom while struggling into his t-shirt and kitchen smock.

The good news was that he actually got the shirt on the right way around. The bad news was that it was one of Yuuko's 'gift' t-shirts. Ever since he'd complained about not having anything to wear but his school clothes, Yuuko had taken it upon herself to add to his wardrobe. Though why only t-shirts, was anyone's guess, and not one of them was appropriate to wear in public. The one he'd pulled on was no exception.

Across the center of the white shirt, emblazoned in pale blue was the phrase, _'Junjou Romantica'_. He'd discovered by way of a giggling Himawari that the phrase was actually the title of a Boys' Love manga series. Careful investigation on the 'net proved that every single one of Yuuko's gift shirts, no matter how innocent they seemed, was related to a BL manga series in some way, shape, or form.

That Yuuko had a _hentai_ streak came as no surprise what so ever. Her wardrobe was a dead giveaway, but he _really_ wished she'd leave _him_ out of her little…perversions.

Thank god for kitchen smocks!

He knotted the head kerchief on over his still wet hair, skidded into the kitchen and threw open the fridge. After tossing just about everything it contained onto the island counter, he grabbed for the cooking knives and started chopping at top speed.

Ten minutes later, he had the first bottle of sake heated, the first set of batter-dipped deep fried appetizers ready to serve, and the main course well on its way. He piled everything on the small rolling serving cart, along with a small pot of tea, for Doumeki. With his head held high and a profound sense of accomplishment, he headed out of the kitchen and down the hall to Yuuko's main sitting room.

It was time to see who Yuuko's guest was.

Kimihiro pushed open the sliding doors to get the cart through and stopped dead.

Yuuko lounged on the left hand side of her long, curved art deco throne. Her shimmering layered robes and artfully arranged midnight hair flowed over the curving armrest and pooled on the floor around her feet.

The other occupant of Yuuko's throne had midnight hair that appeared to be every bit as long as Yuuko's. He wore it bound back with a complicated hair clasp that had branching antlers of blue glass rising upward over his head. His layered robes of azure, sapphire, silver, and black were tied closed with a midnight blue obi sash. The long black outer robe was painted with swirls of violet clouds and twinkled with glittering bead stars.

Kimihiro hadn't thought it was possible for anyone to have clothing anywhere near as extravagant as Yuuko's outfits. Apparently, he'd been sorely mistaken. He blinked. The clouds on the man's robes actually appeared to be moving across the fabric. He rolled his eyes. He'd seen Yuuko's robes do that before.

Yuuko turned to face Kimihiro. "There you are!" She smiled and gestured with her long silver and teak pipe toward the closed sliding doors that opened onto the garden. "We'll be dining under the moon."

The visitor turned his head to look over at Kimihiro, revealing bright blue eyes under dark brows in an exotic face. The man's eyes widened, his brows lifted, and tall black pointed ears unfolded from under his hair. He shifted to fully face Kimihiro and three long black fox tails uncoiled from under his robes, all tipped in white.

_Holy crap…!_ Kimihiro was suddenly very glad that his jaw was attached or it would have hit the floor with a loud clunk. It was the fox guy from the night before, only this time he wasn't in faded jeans and a t-shirt. He looked like a freaking _prince_.

The fox smiled, flashing the points of overlong incisors. "Ah, just the one I was searching for!"

Kimihiro blinked. _He was searching for…me?_

The fox turned to Yuuko and his smile tightened. "And I thought I was sly."

Yuuko tilted her head slightly to the side and her eyes widened just a bit. "You were looking for my housekeeper?" She snapped open her fan and smiled coyly. "I had no idea you needed kitchen help."

_Housekeeper…? Kitchen help…?_ Kimihiro closed his mouth with a hard click of his teeth. _That ungrateful, sanctimonious, bossy, pain in my ass, WITCH…!_ He seriously considered saying something, and loudly, but he didn't want to appear rude in front of her guest. Instead, he lifted his nose and wheeled the cart over to the large oval table by the garden doors.

Directly in front of the doors, Doumeki sat cross-legged on a broad cushion. He wore a short over robe of dark silver embroidered with a design of white feathers. The midnight blue robe beneath and his under robe of stark white, were tucked into black hakima trousers. His expression appeared to be perfectly bland, but his brows were slightly drawn together and a little lower than usual. He was not happy about something. However, despite the less than happy face, he actually looked rather nice.

Kimihiro shook his head. _Who cares how nice he looks?_ He had the doors to open and a table to set, and the dolt was sitting right where he needed to be. He frowned down at Doumeki and waved his hand, indicating that Doumeki should move out of the way.

Doumeki looked up at Kimihiro and lifted one brow.

Kimihiro rolled his eyes and groaned. _Does he have rocks in his head, or just a complete and utter vacuum?_ He leaned down just a little and whispered. "Do you mind?"

Both of Doumeki's brows rose, erasing the line between them. "Go right ahead." His did not move from where he was seated.

Kimihiro pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose to stem the pain growing between his eyes. _No rocks or a vacuum, just one solid block of cement from ear to ear._ Scowling fiercely, he shoved his smock sleeves up to the elbows and made a big production of stepping all the way around Doumeki's cushion to slide open each of the doors, revealing a star-spangled night sky, and a sliver of moon. He didn't quite step all over Doumeki's pretty robes, but he dearly, _dearly _wanted to.

Of course, if he_ had_, Yuuko would have served his head for dinner. One did not dirty her clothes with impunity.

Once he had the sliding doors neatly tucked within the side walls, he lit the small candle lanterns that hung from the eves. He made another big production of dragging the large round table out onto the porch.

Doumeki shifted slightly to one side.

Kimihiro shot a glare in his direction. _No thanks, I don't need any help with this table three times my size and weight._ With a small amount of screeching from the table's squat legs, he got the heavy piece of furniture properly situated. He set out the cushions, then spread out the damask tablecloth and turned back to little cart holding the teak box with the gold and silver dining set.

He came face to face with a smiling Yuuko. "Set it for two, please." She spoke so softly, he almost couldn't hear her. Yuuko pointed at the _sake_ bottle in the warming pan and spoke in a far louder voice. "I'll take that!"

_Only two places…?_ Kimihiro normally served Yuuko and whatever guests she had first, but he hadn't actually been banished from the table before. Well, she and her guest were dressed very formally, and he was…not. He supposed that it made sense.

However, that still left Doumeki out of the equation.

Kimihiro took a deep steadying breath, firmly bit his tongue to keep it still, and handed her the _sake_ bottle.

Yuuko cuddled the warm bottle and grinned. "Such a good houseboy." She reached out and patted the top of Kimihiro's head, then turned and flounced onto one of the cushions.

_Houseboy…?_ Kimihiro felt his blood boil, his cheeks heating from the steam between his ears. He lifted a finger and opened his mouth to let her have it.

"What a lovely view." The purring voice was soft, deep, and right behind Kimihiro.

Kimihiro stiffened. _Eep!_ He hadn't even heard the guy approaching.

The fox moved to the opposite side of the table from Yuuko. With incredible grace, he whisked his robes and tails to one side and elegantly sank onto the cushion without a single fold of his many robes, or a single strand of his hair, straying out of place.

Kimihiro wondered briefly how long he'd had to practice that to do it so smoothly. _Never mind that!_ He knelt and began to set the table. With efficient precision, he set out the appetizer plates, water glasses, wine cups, tea cups, flower-folded cream linen napkins, the tiny butterfly chopstick rests, and the matching gilded teak chopsticks. Kimihiro then turned back to the cart to collect the small variety of appetizers, and laid them out on the table in a circular display. It looked very nice on the gold, silver, and black china set, if he did say so himself.

The fox's ears tilted forward and he smiled at the food displayed on the table. "My, my, did he actually make all this?"

Yuuko leaned one elbow on the table to pour _sake_ into the nearly flat wine cup by the fox. "My Watanuki is a wizard in the kitchen."

_My__ Watanuki…?_ Kimihiro felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and his temper beginning to boil.

Yuuko turned and winked at Kimihiro. "There isn't anything he can't make."

_She's praising me?_ Kimihiro's pent-up steam slid right out of his head. A smile replaced his glare. "Thank you, Yuuko-san."

Yuuko nodded. "How soon until dinner?"

Kimihiro clasped his hands. "Fifteen minutes to the first course, fifteen more to the main course…"

The fox lifted his head and sniffed. "I smell…vanilla?"

Kimihiro felt the heat flow right back into his face. _Stupid soap…_ "Eh… That's from…dessert!" He looked around for the over-stuffed black pork bun, but didn't see the little demon anywhere. "I'm making…"

Yuuko cooed. "Vanilla pudding cake, Watanuki-kun?"

Kimihiro turned sharply to look at her. "Eh…" Did he have all the ingredients to whip one up in time? A mental check of what he knew was in the cupboards confirmed that yes, he did. He nodded firmly. "Yes! That's it exactly!"

Yuuko grinned. "Wonderful!" She lifted a finger. "Make sure to save yourself a slice for when you have your dinner in the kitchen."

Kimihiro froze. He was eating in the_ kitchen_? He wasn't merely banished from her table, he was banished from her company? Technically, he supposed it only made sense. The help did not eat at the same table with the master of the house and their guests. He'd just never really thought of himself as merely _the help_. A hollow pang stabbed him in the region of his heart.

Yuuko held his startled gaze. "And don't forget to set a place on the counter for Doumeki-kun."

Kimihiro blinked. Doumeki was eating in the kitchen too? That was…different. Apparently, neither he nor Doumeki was good enough to be a part of her little party. He nodded and rose to his feet in something of a daze. Pushing the cart before him, he left Yuuko's sitting room. Out in the hallway, he suddenly realized that he didn't even know the fox's name. Yuuko hadn't introduced them.

He wasn't good enough for even an introduction? The fist around his heart tightened. He wondered briefly if Doumeki had been introduced, though he was eating in the kitchen too. At least he wasn't the only one being banished. The hollow feeling in his heart eased.

Kimihiro slapped his forehead. _Crap! I'm going to be alone with him -- again!_ Syrupy warmth spread in his belly and eased downward. Maybe Doumeki would give him another kis--?

Kimihiro jerked to a halt in the hallway and stomped his foot. _Stop that, right NOW! _He shoved the cart forward and strode for the kitchen. This was no time to be thinking _those_ thoughts. He had a dinner to make, a cake to bake, and…

"Are you all right?" The voice was deep, practically monotone, frighteningly familiar, and less than an inch from his ear.

Kimihiro yelped and jumped, very nearly overturning the cart. He whirled around to face Doumeki looming right behind him. "What the…?"

Doumeki folded his hands into his voluminous sleeves. "You're acting stranger than usual."

Kimihiro waved his hands and spoke in a harsh whisper. "I'm not acting strange, Yuuko-san is!"

Doumeki snorted. "Why? Because she wants you to eat in the kitchen?"

Kimihiro's spine stiffened. "But I've never…! She's never…!" Even though technically, as the hired help he _should_ have eaten in the kitchen all this time. The steam went out of his fury. He turned back to his cart and started pushing. "I've always been good enough to have dinner with her, and her guests before."

Doumeki stepped up to walk at his side, sighed, and rolled his eyes. "She's trying to keep you at a safe distance from that fox, idiot."

Kimihiro's eyes widened and a shiver raced up his spine. "He's…dangerous?"

Doumeki rapped his knuckles smartly on the top of Kimihiro's head. "Hello! He's a spirit being? What spirit _doesn't _want to eat you?"

Kimihiro winced. "Ow!" He batted at Doumeki's hands. "The_oden_ foxes don't! Why would he?"

Doumeki nodded at the cart. "Don't you have something on the stove?"

Kimihiro stiffened. _Crap!_ The dinner…! He shoved the cart down the hall at top speed. _Oh god, I hope the meat didn't burn!_ He tore into the kitchen, shoved the cart to one side, and dashed to the oven to check on the roast. It was fine, though it could use a little basting…

Doumeki grabbed a stool from beside the island counter, pulled his robes to the side, and sat. He lifted his nose and sniffed deeply. "So, what are you making?"

His thoughts full of the menu and the preparations he still had to make, he absently rattled off the list of what was for dinner. "…And vanilla pudding cake." He turned and frowned at Doumeki. "Why are you in here, instead of out there, with Yuuko?"

Doumeki shrugged. "We're eating in the kitchen."

Kimihiro frowned. That did, and did not answer his question. He rolled his eyes. _Typical Doumeki non-answer…_

Doumeki's brows lowered. "You smell like vanilla again."

Kimihiro sighed and reached for the basting spoon. "The pork-bun switched the soap in my bathroom too." He knelt before the open oven and set to work.

"You took a shower?"

Kimihiro nodded. "I wasn't going to serve food smelling like…you."

Doumeki snorted. "You mean like sex."

Kimihiro stiffened, then rose and closed the oven with all the dignity he could muster. "I prefer to be clean when I cook." He moved to the cabinets and started collecting the ingredients to make the pudding cake.

"Hm." Doumeki's gaze followed his hands with undisguised interest. "That must have been fast shower."

"It was."

"And cold."

"Yes, that too." Kimihiro rolled his eyes. Doumeki was _such_ a sparkling conversationalist…

"Tea?"

_Eh?_ Kimihiro turned around to face him. "What?"

Doumeki looked at him with his brows up and his head slightly tilted. "Tea?"

Kimihiro frowned. "Tea?" He shook his head. "You want some tea?"

Doumeki's expression shifted to one of mild expectation.

Kimihiro sighed. He wanted tea. He took a deep breath and moved to the stove to make a pot. "Apparently I don't have enough to do." He tossed a scowl at Doumeki. "Any other requests?"

"Yeah, how about some…?" Doumeki rattled off a simple deep fried fish appetizer.

Kimihiro turned to look at the stove and noted the steam rising from deep fryer. The oil was still hot and he actually had that particular fish in the refrigerator… He froze utterly horrified. _What am I thinking?_ He turned and shouted at the pain in his ass sitting in his kitchen. "I was being _sarcastic,_ you ass! I'm _not_your servant! I don't take orders _from you_!"

Ten minutes later, the roast was out of the oven, the vanilla pudding cake was in the oven, and the first set of dishes were washed and put away. Kimihiro grumbled softly while setting the serving platters and side dishes to the first course on the cart along with the second bottle of warmed _sake_. "Jeeze, did she really need four different dipping sauces for this one dish…?"

Doumeki lifted his tea cup and poured another cup for himself from the small green pot. His plate was clean. He had devoured every last scrap of his requested deep fried fish snack. His gaze focused on the plates of food he was piling on the cart with avid interest.

Just to keep Doumeki from getting any ideas about messing up his carefully arranged platters, Kimihiro grabbed a random plate, forked over a few selections from each platter, and set the plate before Doumeki. "Stay out of trouble, and don't stomp around or my cake will fall."

Doumeki waved a half-bitten piece with his chopsticks. "Mmm, good."

_Eh?_ Kimihiro froze and turned to look back at Doumeki. "You like it?"

Doumeki nodded. "Could use some…" He named a rather exotic dipping sauce.

Kimihiro set his hands on his hips and ground his teeth. "So sorry that I didn't have time to make that particular sauce just for you!"

Doumeki shrugged. "Next time."

"Next time?" Kimihiro stabbed an index finger in Doumeki's general direction. "There will be no 'next time' for you, you arrogant, insufferable, over-sized, bottomless pit…!"

Doumeki swallowed what he was chewing and looked over at him "When do you have to have that food out?"

Kimihiro froze. "Crap!" He turned and shoved the cart out the kitchen door and down the corridor at only two clicks over light speed.

Kneeling at the side of the table with Yuuko on his right and the fox-guy on his left, Kimihiro collected all the dirty trays, cups, and dishes, then set out the carefully arranged platters, dishes, and bowls to the first course.

Neither the fox nor Yuuko spoke a word.

Kimihiro found their silence and watchful gazes just a little unnerving. He reached over and switched the _sake_ bottles. The one that had spent time on the table was bone dry, naturally. He lifted the pot of tea he'd also left on the table. Surprisingly, only a small amount of tea was left in the pot. Someone was drinking tea. He strongly suspected that it _wasn't _Yuuko. He replaced it with a fresh pot with a slightly shaking hand.

The fox lifted his chin, his blue gaze focusing on Kimihiro's face with a small smile. "So, this is merely your house servant?"

Kimihiro stiffened, startled by the sudden words, then ground his teeth in annoyance. _I'm a part-time worker, not a servant!_

Yuuko smiled. "He's not only talented in the kitchen he's particularly good at cleaning."

Kimihiro's hands clenched on the dishes, his knuckles going white. That almost sounded like an insult. _And there's no need to talk about me like, I'm not right in front of you!_

"I see." The fox lifted his shallow sake bowl. "How much do you want for him?"

_Huh? _Kimihiro froze. _How much…?_

Yuuko smiled and lifted her sake bowl. "Oh, I'm afraid he'd be very…costly." Her gaze slid over to Kimihiro. "His debt to me is quite extensive."

Kimihiro felt the heat rush into his cheeks. It was the honest truth. He really did owe her an enormous amount, and not merely for his wish to be rid of the spirits that plagued him.

"Is that so?" The fox looked directly into Kimihiro's eyes, his smile friendly, but his electric blue gaze slightly narrowed and clearly assessing. "I'm not entirely without resources."

Yuuko lifted her sake bowl. "And _why_ exactly do you want him?"

The fox leaned back and shrugged. "I find him beautiful, and not just because of his rather spiritually attractive quality."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. That was one way to put his ability to draw nasty spirits out of the woodwork.

"He possesses a purity, an innocence, that just begs to be…" The fox's blue gaze slid to Kimihiro. "…Devoured."

Kimihiro jerked back from the table so hard, he fell back to land hard on his butt. "Now wait just a minute! You're not eating me!"

The fox blinked then laughed. "Oh, you thought I meant that literally?" He lifted his sake bowl. "No, no, no… I just want to fuck you."

Kimihiro stared. "Eh...?" It took a full breath before he could even process what the fox had just said. He wanted to…to… He wanted sex? He waved his hand. "But, I am not a girl!"

The fox chuckled. "I am well aware of your gender."

Kimihiro tilted his head in confusion. "Then why…? Are you…_gay_?"

The fox snorted. "It is _you_ I want. Your gender is entirely beside the point."

Kimihiro tilted his head the other way. "Eh…?" _Was that supposed to make sense?_ "I don't think I understand."

The fox turned and raised his sake bowl to Yuuko and grinned. "You see why I want him?"

Yuuko smiled. "Your offer is very generous General, but I'm afraid that my Watanuki is not for sale."

Kimihiro felt the tension leave him so fast he slumped and practically melted into the floor. "Thank you, Yuuko-san…"

The fox leaned forward and perched his chin on his raised fist. "Even if I should say, Yuuko-sama, the reason I was able to enter your establishment was because of my desire, my…_wish_, to have him?" The fox smiled, showing his long teeth.

Yuuko bit down on her bottom lip. "I…see." She looked over at Kimihiro and sighed. "That does change things."

"_What?"_ Kimihiro jerked bolt upright and stared from one to the other. His gaze settled on Yuuko's unsmiling face. "Yuuko-san?" She wouldn't actually sell him to grant the fox's wish, would she?

Yuuko shook her head. "The price would be extremely high, General." Her gaze focused on the fox. "Not only would the cost be very dear to you personally, the repercussions would be…almost universally devastating."

The fox took a deep breath, focusing on the cup in is hand. "I thought that might be the case." He looked over at Yuuko and his smiled faded just a little. "His spirit is unusual, but not…unrecognizable."

Yuuko smiled. "I'm glad you understand, General."

The fox tilted his head, frowning slightly. "What if I were to change my wish to…a single full moon? Can you part with him that long?"

Yuuko lifted one brow. "I have need of his qualities, intact."

The fox snorted. "I have no interest in damaging his _qualities_." His gaze drifted to Kimihiro. "Merely his innocence."

Kimihiro shivered hard. Good god, the fox wasnot giving up.

Yuuko lifted the sake bottle in a clear offer to refill his cup. "In that case, perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement?"

Kimihiro stared at his employer in total shock. "Yuuko-san?"

Yuuko snorted. "Oh don't look so surprised, I've rented you out before."

Kimihiro scrambled to his feet. "Not for something like _this_!"

Yuuko set her chin on her upraised palm. "Don't you have something in the oven?"

Kimihiro stiffened. "The cake!" He was wheeling the cart out of her sitting room and back to the kitchen at top speed, when it suddenly occurred to him that leaving Yuuko alone with the fox that wanted to buy him was a _very _bad idea. Yuuko's greed was monumental. She _had_ rented him out for weird missions before. He would not put it past her to hand him over in trade for some weird exotic trinket, especially if it was to grant a wish.

Kimihiro slowed to a halt in the middle of the hallway and groaned. Who would have thought that his…_virginity _would be anyone's wish?


	8. Chapter 8

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence 

* * *

_**Chapter Eight**_

* * *

Watanuki Kimihiro pushed his serving cart across the threshold of Yuuko's ultra-modern kitchen and discovered a horrifying sight.

Doumeki was bent over before the open oven door with baking mitts on, and reaching in toward the unfinished cake.

Kimihiro shrieked. "Don't you _dare_ touch that cake!" He shoved the cart out of his way and tore across the kitchen at top speed.

Doumeki turned sharply, his eyes wide, then shuttered his gaze, smoothed his expression to nothing at all, and straightened. "I didn't think you wanted it to burn."

Kimihiro snatched the oven mitts right off of Doumeki's hands. "I do _not_ burn _my_ cakes!" He flapped the mitts in Doumeki's faze. "Back away! Back away!"

Doumeki took two steps to the side.

Kimihiro turned away and grabbed for the small jar of toothpicks sitting on top of the stove. "I bet you didn't even tooth-pick test it!"

Doumeki blinked. "Toothpick…?"

Kimihiro nodded firmly. "I thought not." He selected a toothpick, knelt down before the open oven, and jabbed the toothpick into the very center of the first of the three pans. "The toothpick test is how you tell if a cake is done or not." He pulled it out and examined it closely. "No clinging batter means it's done." He selected a fresh toothpick and tested the next pan, and then the next.

Doumeki's brows furrowed slightly and his mouth turned down at the very corners. "I watched the clock."

Kimihiro shook his head. "Following the clock is not completely reliable. Every stove holds heat differently. Ambient kitchen temperature is also a factor, as is the moisture level. Today, there was quite a bit of humidity in the air. Since Yuuko doesn't seem to believe in air conditioning, it's a good thing it was also fairly cool, or my cake would not have even risen."

Doumeki rolled his eyes and made his way back to his stool. "Yeah, sure… Whatever."

Kimihiro pulled one pan out and closed the stove. "One was ready the other two need a few more minutes."

"Okay." Doumeki folded his hands neatly on the countertop. "So."

Kimihiro turned to face him and frowned. "So?"

Doumeki gave him a level and completely expressionless look. "What did they say?"

Kimihiro blinked at him. "Eh?" How did they get on _this_ subject? Weren't they just talking about the cake? He shook his head. "What?"

Doumeki took a deep slow breath, closed his eyes, and released it. He opened his eyes and gave Kimihiro exactly the same non-expression as before. "Did the fox say why he was here, at Yuuko's?"

_Oh…_ Kimihiro's cheeks warmed at an alarming rate. "Um… Yes." He hurried over to the dish laden cart. He had dishes to wash, a main course to prepare, and a cake to finish. He did _not_ want to talk about the fact that the fox wanted to fu--… He flinched. …Have se-- … He shook his head. …Wanted to buy him from Yuuko. He shoved the cart close to the sink and began to unload the dishes. He _should_ tell Doumeki. He really, really should, after all the guy was his self-proclaimed body guard…

And boyfriend.

The dishes rattled in his shaking hands. _Damn it, damn it, damn it…_ He had to tell him _something_, but _what_?

"Are you going to tell me?"

Kimihiro dropped a handful of serving spoons into the steel sink. It rattled loudly. He turned to his personal pain in his ass and shouted. "I'm thinking, damn you!"

Doumeki snorted. "Let me guess, he wants to screw you."

Kimihiro startled so hard, he very nearly dropped the small gold and silver plates in his hand. He swallowed hard and carefully set the plates in the sink, then turned on the water. "He wants to _buy_ me, from Yuuko." Well, that was most of it, might as well say the rest. "It seems, that my…" He cleared his throat. "I'm his wish."

Doumeki didn't move. He didn't even blink.

Kimihiro squirted soap into the water and picked up the scrubber. The sound of running water and clinking dishes filled the kitchen for several tremendously long minutes.

Kimihiro set the last appetizer plate into the draining board, dried his hands on the hand-towel, then put on the oven-mitts to pull out his cake.

"Will she do it?" Doumeki's voice was soft, and very, very neutral.

Kimihiro stiffened, just a little, then crouched and pulled both pans from the oven. "She told him I wasn't for sale." He set them on the stovetop and proceeded to ease the cakes free from their pans and onto the cooling rack.

"But…?"

Kimihiro flinched. _Crap! _He was too damned good at guessing. Did he have psychic powers or something; well, beyond making purifying arrows out of thin air? "Um…"

Something heavy thumped hard on the island counter top, rattling the drawers underneath.

Kimihiro whirled around in astonishment.

Doumeki's eyes were narrowed and bright gold. There was a red flush on his cheeks, and both hands were fisted, the knuckles white. "Spit it out, damn you!" It was almost a shout.

Kimihiro swallowed. _Oh crap…_ He kept forgetting that Doumeki actually had a temper under all that stoic silence. "Eh… The f-fox changed his wish from an o-outright p-purchase to a…a full moon, and Yuuko said that maybe they c-could come to an a-agreement."

Doumeki's eyes widened and the color drained from his cheeks. "You're shitting me…"

Kimihiro wrung his hands together, and shrugged.

Doumeki looked to the side and rubbed his brow, his eyes narrowing and his jaw white with tension. "So tell me, since we both know that Yuuko is more than capable of handing you over to fulfill a wish, considering that she's done this well over half-a-dozen times already…" His gaze turned to Kimihiro and his eyes gleamed molten gold. "Why are you _still here_?"

Kimihiro suddenly felt the full weight of all that he was, and all that he'd gone through and paid for, over the past three years settle on his shoulders. He slumped back against the counter, yet held Doumeki's gaze. "Go…where?" A knot formed in his throat. "I have no family to go to anywhere, and I can't go home, because…because…"

Doumeki sighed. "Because Yuuko knows where you live."

Kimihiro shook his head and smiled just a little, even though his eyes felt hot, and his vision was getting blurry. "I can't go home because I'm not even sure I remember where my…" He swallowed, but the lump wouldn't go away. "My apartment…was." He could barely remember what his own kitchen looked like. He could quite literally feel the howling emptiness at the back of his head where memories had once been.

Doumeki's eyes widened. "Is that why you're always trying to go back?"

"It's…" Kimihiro turned away and swiped at his burning eyes with the back of his smock sleeve. "It doesn't matter. It's nearby. I'm sure I'll recognize it when I find it." He busied himself with the cake.

Doumeki rose from his stool. "You can stay at the temple. That fox can't step on the grounds."

Kimihiro snorted. "Yuuko knows where that is."

Doumeki stalked toward the kitchen door. "There are places on the grounds where even she can't go."

Kimihiro frowned after him. "Where are you going?"

Doumeki stopped in the doorway and looked back. "I'm going to change. You should go pack a bag."

Kimihiro nodded. "I will, after I serve dinner."

Doumeki stiffened. "What? How stupid can you be…?"

"Shut up!" Kimihiro bared his teeth and waved his hand. "If I'm going to break my promise, I might as well at least serve the food I cooked for her before I do it!"

Doumeki's jaw tightened. _"Che…!"_ He pointed at Kimihiro. "I'll be right back. Stay in the kitchen!" He stepped through the doorway and disappeared.

Kimihiro rolled his eyes and started setting up the platters and bowls for the main course. "Stay in the kitchen, my ass! Does he think this food will walk out there by itself?"

In a matter of minutes, he had the cart loaded with the dinner service, the covered platter of neatly sliced roast with two sauces plus gravy, and the four requested side dishes for the dinner. He then added the last two requested bottles of sake wrapped in hot towels, and one three-layer vanilla cake with a creamy pudding interior, slathered in vanilla icing, and sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings.

Too bad he wouldn't get a taste of any of it, not if he was leaving.

Kimihiro walked down the hallway with as much haste as the rattling cart could handle. If Doumeki caught him during his delivery, the big brute was sure to grab him by the collar and haul him back into the kitchen.

Doumeki planned to hide him at the shrine.

Kimihiro sighed. It was a grand idea, but how long could he actually hide? If this had been summer he could have hidden for an entire month, but it wasn't summer. He had to go to class if he wanted to graduate this year, and then there were the university entrance exams. He'd have to leave the temple grounds sooner or later, and he was absolutely positive that the moment he did Yuuko would be waiting for him.

He winced. An unhappy Yuuko was not a pretty sight. She'd dragged him around by the collar before, and that was when she was in a _good_ mood. Did he really want to see her when she was royally pissed? He shuddered. Maybe he should just let the fox have his one full moon? It might save quite a bit of suffering on his part. The fox seemed nice enough.

On the other hand, did he really want to…do _that_ with someone he didn't even know? Someone that wasn't even human? Someone that had tails -- plural, claws, and _fangs_?

Kimihiro groaned. He simply could not see his way out of this situation short of bolting to China. He shook his head. _Scratch that…_ Yuuko was a time and _space_ witch. She could cross dimensions to other worlds. China would hardly be more than a walk down her worm-hole. He took a deep breath. He'd just have to tell her that he couldn't do…_that_ with someone he didn't know. He wasn't even sure he wanted to do _that_ with someone he _did_ know.

Though what he'd experienced so far had been rather…exciting. His imagination suddenly filled with the ghostly sensations of Doumeki panting against his neck while his hands touched him, rubbing, squeezing, and…

And his jeans began to tighten behind his fly.

_Stop that!_ Kimihiro stopped outside the double doors of Yuuko's sitting room and closed his eyes tightly. _Stop thinking about that!_ He took several very deep breaths, and forced his mind to catalogue what was left in the refrigerator, then the cupboards, and the dishes he still had to wash…and the way Doumeki had looked while sitting in his kitchen, all broad shouldered and narrow waisted in his borrowed kimono.

The tightness in his jeans became a full-blown, dizzying hard-on.

_I said STOP IT!_ Kimihiro stomped his slippered foot hard enough to make it ache all the way up to his knee.

His body settled down to a disgruntled simmer.

Kimihiro sighed. It wasn't completely gone, but at least he could walk again. He pushed the cart through the sliding doors into Yuuko's main sitting room with only a slight limp.

Yuuko looked up with a crow of triumph and clapped her hands.

The fox turned and stared, eyes wide and his tall ears straight up. He looked over at Yuuko and sighed, his ears drooping. "Fine, you win." He pushed something small across the table to her.

Yuuko grabbed whatever it was from the table and giggled. "I told you he had a very strong work ethic, General!"

The fox shook his head and a wry grin lifted the corners of his lips. "So I see."

Kimihiro approached their table with a slight frown on his face. _What the…?_

Yuuko looked pointedly at the cart. "I see you brought both bottles of sake this time." She gave him a wide, knowing smile.

Kimihiro snorted and knelt at the side of their table. He had his excuse ready. "You _always_ drink two bottles with your dinner." He collected the plates from the table with swift efficiency, and gave her a raised eyebrow. "I have three more warming in the kitchen."

Yuuko's smile didn't waver. "Is that so?"

In that moment, Kimihiro knew for a fact that she knew exactly what Doumeki had planned. He swallowed hard. "Of course." He promptly diverted his attention to setting out the fresh plates and glasses, then set the covered platter and the multiple serving bowls with spoons in the very center of the table. He lifted the glass-covered cake dish from the bottom shelf of the cart. "Your vanilla pudding cake, Yuuko-san."

Yuuko's gaze drooped to a half-lidded smirk. "You're serving,_ne_?"

Kimihiro froze, but only for a single heart-beat. "Of course." He uncovered the sliced roast, picked up the serving fork, and turned to the fox. "What would you like, sir?"

Yuuko promptly stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms.

Kimihiro shot a scowl at her. "Guests first!"

The fox blinked then chuckled. "A very strong work ethic indeed!" He shook his head, his unearthly blue eyes dancing. He looked over the many dishes and made his choices known.

Kimihiro served the requested items, then served Yuuko.

The fox lifted a rolled slice of roast with his chopsticks, bit down, chewed, and moaned in pleasure. He dabbed his lips with his napkin and nodded. "Absolutely perfect!"

Yuuko grinned. "As I said before, a wizard in the kitchen!"

Kimihiro smiled in spite of himself. "I'm glad you're pleased."

Suddenly a small black, bunny-eared projectile launched from the other side of the table, squealing in a child-like voice. "April Fool! April Fool! Watanuki is an April Fool!" It slammed into Kimihiro's face and planted a wet sloppy kiss on Kimihiro's lips.

Kimihiro bowled over backwards, flailing and kicking. He grabbed the furry beast and pulled it from his face with a wet pop. "Mokona!"

Mokona squirmed from of Kimihiro's hands and then bounced around the boy's head. "Vanilla! Vanilla! Watanuki smells like vanilla!"

In a snarling fury, Kimihiro rolled over and came up on his hands and knees, facing the interior of Yuuko's sitting room. "You, you little demon…!" He lunged onto his feet and grabbed for the creature. "Your little stunt made my whole day a living hell!"

Giggling, Mokona spun around Kimihiro's feet. "But I thought you liked vanilla?"

Kimihiro reached down to grab him. "In my food, not on my person!" His feet crossed and tangled. Off balance, Kimihiro tipped forward and caught himself on his hands, barely keeping his face from hitting the hardwood floor. "Oof!"

Mokona burst into giggles and bounced around him. "Watanuki is mad! Watanuki is mad!"

"I'm not mad, I'm pissed!" Kimihiro lunged back onto his feet and after him, following the creature from one corner of Yuuko's sitting room to the other. "I have a deep fryer with your name on it, and then you're going into Doumeki's bento!"

The small black bunny-creature lifted his finger and tucked it into the bottom of one eyelid. He and dragged it down make his eye overlarge, then stuck out an incredibly long tongue. "Nya! Nya! You have to catch Mokona first!"

Kimihiro screamed incoherently and redoubled his flailing efforts to catch the infuriating beast.

Back at the table, Yuuko smiled at her guest. "Are you_ sure_ you want my Watanuki?"

The fox continued to watch the boy chasing the small giggling creature. "More than ever." He gaze slid over to Yuuko and his smile tightened. "My…need is quite urgent."

Mokona bounced out into the hallway. "Can't catch me! Can't catch me! Clumsy Watanuki can't catch me!"

Kimihiro bolted out into the hall after him. "Meat-bun, you are so going into my deep fryer, and believe me I'll cook you so well, Doumeki will eat you in one bite!"

The giggling Mokona bounced from wall to floor to wall down the hallway, twirling and giggling as he went. His overlong bunny-feet slapped against the door to the treasure vault and the door flew open. Mokona went flying into the room with a squeal.

Kimihiro dashed in after him. Though the shelf-lined, crowded room was fairly dark, he had no difficulty seeing his quarry bouncing down the narrow center aisle.

Mokona stopped at the very end before a body-sized round mirror, and turned around to face Kimihiro. "Oops…"

Kimihiro slammed the door closed behind him with a triumphant crow. "Ah-ha!" He raced toward his furry black tormentor, hands outstretched. "I got you now!" A single stride from his goal, the floor under feet erupted with light, and his palms smacked into an invisible wall. Kimihiro yelped in pain and fell back hard on his butt. He yelped again and rolled onto his side rubbing his smarting palms on his aching butt. "Ow, ow, ow…!"

Mokona snorted, one low-flung ear flicking up, then back down. "Who has who now?"

Kimihiro sat up slowly. Beneath him was a slowly rotating glowing circle that was clearly Yuuko's signature design. "What the…? He rose up on his knees, palms out. His hands met firm resistance. He swept his hands all the way around. He completely surrounded by an invisible wall, quite literally caged in thin air. "What the hell_is _this?"

Mokona turned to face the large round mirror. "Look Watanuki, look and see."

The mirror began to glow.

Kimihiro raised his hand squinting against the brightness. "What…?" Colors shifted across the round glass, forming a picture of Yuuko and the fox at the dinner table.

Yuuko smiled lifted the sake bottle in a clear offer to fill the fox-eared man's sake bowl. "So, General Osusuki Genko, Senbii no kitsune-sama, why don't you tell me the real reason for wanting my Watanuki?"

_Osusuki…? _Kimihiro frowned. He knew that name, but from where?

General Osusuki took a slow deep breath and lifted his bowl, accepting her offer for a refill. Once his cup was filled, he leaned back on his cushion and sipped. "I did not lie about wanting to bed the boy."

Yuuko nodded, her smile unchanging. "I didn't think you had, General." She lifted her own bowl and sipped. "But we both know that a wish as simple as that would not show you my house, and certainly not bring you through my door."

General Osusuki pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side, his gaze sliding away only to return and narrow. "I need a dream-walker, and apparently you have the only one available."

Yuuko sat up slowly, her smile slipping away. "General, the last I heard, your realm had a very powerful dream-walker."

The general shook his head. "We had the services of a dream-walker that lived in this world. Apparently, he died quite a few years ago." He lifted his chin. "Perhaps you knew him?"

Yuuko lifted a fine brow.

General Osusuki smiled showing sharp teeth. "He bore the same name as the archer that guards your house-boy."

Yuuko's brows lifted. "Doumeki? Doumeki Haruka was your dream-walker?"

Kimihiro felt the air leave his lungs. _Haruka-san _worked for this guy?

The fox shrugged and sipped from his shallow bowl. "We had…an agreeable arrangement."

Yuuko looked away, nibbling on her bottom lip. "I…see."

General Osusuki set both elbows on the table, and leaned forward. "Yuuko-sama, something is blocking just about every door in and out of my realm, the world of spirits. The only door still open is the one to _this _world." He frowned. "Surely you've noticed the increased number of spirits crossing over to here?"

Yuuko sighed and rubbed her brow. "Yes, I'm afraid I have."

General Osusuki nodded. "They are coming here to this world because they literally have no other door to go through from ours. However, it seems that more than a few doors are closed in this realm too."

Yuuko nodded slowly and her hands tightened around her sake bowl. "The one who blocks your doors is the same one blocking those here." She lifted her cinnamon gaze to the fox. "In his greed for power, he has closed many doors on many worlds."

General Osusuki's brows lowered and his lips curled away from his long teeth. It was not a smile. "Is something being done about this…one?"

Yuuko smiled slightly. "Progress is being made. They have reopened quite a few doors already, but…" She looked down at her cup. "Other doors to and from other worlds have been lost."

The general straightened on his cushion. "Give me your dream-walker."

Yuuko shook her head. "He's not ready…"

General Osusuki's tall ears turned back and he released a low growl. "He's not ready because he is not anchored!"

Back in the dusty treasure vault, Kimihiro frowned at the mirror he was watching. "Anchored?"

The fox's clawed hand formed a fist. "I have seen three blood links to the boy. Of those three links, two of them hold connections to another world entirely, and one of those is split in half between two different realms. The last blood link is to this world, but its fading. The only other link, the strongest link he has to anchor him is to this house, which spreads across many realms yet occupies none." The fox sat up straight, his hands on his hips. "Without a firm anchor to at least one solid realm, you will lose the boy. His soul will fade into the dreamlands until not even his body is left."

Kimihiro's heart slammed in his chest. _"Don't disappear… Don't disappear… Don't disappear…"_

Yuuko held his gaze, neither smiling nor frowning. "It's only a matter of time before a true anchor to this world is formed. He has already chosen…"

"Time, you say?" General Osusuki snorted. "Tell me, Yuuko-sama…" The fox leaned forward. "How many memories has he lost already?"

Yuuko held perfectly still, her expression unchanging, her gaze unwavering.

Kimihiro sat on the hard floor surrounded in magic, but frozen in place by the terror forcing his heart to beat in his mouth. Was _that_ what was wrong with him? Was _that_ why he was losing his memories? Was _that_ why he kept falling into dreams for no apparent reason what so ever, and having such a hard time finding his way back? He wiped his damp palms on his jeans. He was…_fading_?

The fox took in a deep breath and lifted his chin. "Give him to me for one full moon, and I will anchor him to my realm. Once he is solidly anchored, his true power will come forth allowing him to open doors and create pathways, or close them." He swirled the sake in his bowl. "After that, you may anchor him to any other world you choose."

Yuuko shook her head. "He has not yet begun training to do such things."

The fox barked out a short laugh. "He already crosses the dreamscape, or he would not have found the _Kitsune Oden_ cart. However, he will not be able to create solid pathways, or extinguish them, without proper training, and that cannot happen until he is awakened. I can do both."

Yuuko's brow lifted. "You…?"

The fox grinned. "Who do you think awakened and trained Doumeki Haruka?"

Both of Yuuko's brows lifted. "Is that so?"

Kimihiro's mouth fell open. He _trained_ Haruka-san? How old was this guy?

"In exchange…" The fox set his sake bowl down. "I am authorized to give you what ever aid you need to deal with this…blocker of doors, this closer of realms."

Yuuko snorted, then smiled sourly. "Does that include an army?"

The general's tall black ears tipped forward and he smiled, showing only the very tips of his long teeth. "It does." He tapped a clawed finger on the table top. "If this…one is shutting away realms, then this…one needs to be stopped before he creates an imbalance so great that it pulls the fabric of the dreamscape, that which connects all the many realms to each other -- apart."

Yuuko nodded slowly. "His dream needs to end."

The fox folded his arms across his chest. "To do that you will need a fully trained dream-walker."

Yuuko sighed heavily. "Yes, I know."


	9. Chapter 9

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence 

* * *

_**Chapter Nine**_

* * *

In the center aisle of Yuuko's deeply shadowed vault, Watanuki Kimihiro sat in his prison of magic watching the scene playing in the enormous round mirror.

The kitsune general's tall black ears tilted back and the white tips of all three of his body-length fox tails twitched back and forth. His mouth tightened and turned downward at the corners. His blue eyes brightened until all trace of his pupils were swallowed by dancing blue flames. "Yuuko-sama, you know what will happen to that boy if he is not given a firm enough anchor in at least one realm."

Yuuko looked away, casually sliding her fingers through her knee-length midnight hair. "I do." She lifted her chin and gazed at the celestial kitsune. "However, I will not force him. I will let you make your offer, but the choice is his."

General Osusuki's fox ears lifted and tipped forward. "Then by all means, bring him forth and let him choose." A sour smile lifted his lips, revealing a long pointed tooth. "I trust he has not left?"

Yuuko turned to stare off the porch at apparently nothing in particular. "I know exactly where he is."

Kimihiro sucked in a sharp breath. Yuuko was staring right at him from the mirror.

The mirror went dark, plunging the whole vault into shadow.

Kimihiro stared blankly at his shadowed reflection. The only light in the dark vault came from the slowly turning magical circle under him. For several breaths, he saw nothing beyond his own memory replaying the scene that had just appeared in the glass. _Dream-walking…? The dreamscape…?_ _Doors and pathways…? Anchors…? Blood ties…? Someone that was closing the doors to and from other worlds, and whose dream had to end…?_

Kimihiro scowled at his dim reflection. It _almost_ made sense, if he didn't think too hard about it. However, the parts that kind of made sense just filled his head with more questions.

What was this…dreamscape? The fox had given him the impression that that was where the fox oden cart was, so apparently he'd gone there, but was this…dreamscape also where he went to talk to Haruka-san and…others? Haruka-san had talked about walking into and out of other people dreams; was that dream-walking? He'd even followed Haruka-san through a dream into someone's bedroom, though_that_ had ended…oddly, but he'd never mentioned a dreamscape. Nor had Haruka-san ever mentioned the fox, this…Osusuki person, who was some kind of a general. And why did a three-tailed_kitsune_ that obviously lived in the spirit realm need a dream-walker? More importantly, why hadn't Yuuko ever mentioned anything about _any_ of this?

He rolled his eyes. _Oh yeah…_ Yuuko didn't volunteer information, _ever_. If you didn't ask, she wouldn't tell you, and the heavens only knew how much the answer would cost.

What he had seen in the mirror _almost_ made sense, but not enough sense.

The only thing he did get out of that whole thing was that the fox wanted to train him to be a dream-walker, in addition to…to bedding him, and that Yuuko apparently needed a dream-walker too, a fully trained dream-walker to end someone's dream.

Kimihiro shook his head. What the hell did dream-walkers do anyway? Obviously, they could talk to people while they were sleeping, but what did that have to do with opening doors or making pathways? How could walking around in someone's dream end a dream?

Kimihiro heaved a sigh and rubbed his aching brow. _Too many damned questions._ He was not looking forward to finding out what it was going to cost him to get Yuuko to tell him what the hell was going on. He'd probably better talk to Haruka-san first, which meant he needed to see if he could get to his room for a quick nap.

Kimihiro rose to his feet and set out his hand. His palm encountered the smooth curved wall of…nothing. _Damn…_ He was still trapped inside his invisible container. He looked around but didn't see the small black bunny creature that had led him into the vault and trapped him there. "Mokona?" He balled a fist and rapped his knuckles against it, inducing a hollow bonging. "Mokona you can let me out now! The show's over!"

"There's no need to shout Watanuki-kun." The voice was smooth, sultry, feminine, and laced with just a touch of amusement.

Kimihiro turned all the way around, pressed his palms to the invisible wall, and peered into the shadows. "Yuuko-san?"

The lights flickered on overhead, revealing Yuuko moving toward him trailing her long flowing robes. She smiled. "So, did you enjoy your show?"

Kimihiro folded his arms and snorted. "I'm sure I would have…" He shot a glare at her and drummed his fingers on his folded arms. "…If _any_ of it had made the slightest bit of sense!"

"I'm sure the General would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have." She lifted her hand and waved her fingers.

The circle of light under Kimihiro's feet dissipated.

Kimihiro lifted his palms. The invisible wall was gone. _Finally…_ He stepped forward with caution. "I'm surprised you just didn't bring him with you."

Yuuko's brows lifted. "Let a _kitsune_ into my treasure vault?" She snorted and turned away. "I prefer to _keep_ my treasures, thank you very much." In a rustle of heavy silk, she swayed back down the aisle toward the door at the far end. "Come along Watanuki-kun, the General has something very important to ask you."

Kimihiro followed her up the aisle with dragging feet. He had no clue how the fox planned to 'anchor' him, but he had a strong suspicion that it involved something…perverted. "Do I_ have_ to talk to him? Can't I just…leave?"

Yuuko stopped before the vault's closed door. "You could." She turned to glance at him from over her shoulder. "However, the General might take that as meaning that you did not want my protection, and that you were free for the…taking."

Kimihiro stiffened. "Err…" That implied that the fox _would_ have just walked off with him if not for Yuuko. Sighing he stepped up beside her, or as beside her as her floor sweeping robes would allow. Just for appearances sake, he rolled his eyes dramatically and scowled. "Okay, fine, I'll talk to him."

Yuuko reached over to pat him on the head and smiled brightly. "Good boy!"

Kimihiro ducked and swatted at her hand. "Cut that out! I am _not_a dog!" He grabbed the door handle and pulled, sliding the door open.

Yuuko giggled and stepped through the doorway into the hall. "Now, now, Watanuki-kun, play nice!"

"_Me,_ play nice?" Kimihiro turned to close the door behind him. "I'm not the one that likes to play games!"

"Oh no?" Yuuko swayed up the hall toward her sitting room, a smile on her scarlet lips. "Weren't you playing 'tag' just a few minutes ago with Mokona?"

Kimihiro stomped after her. "That was not 'tag'! I fully intend to deep-fry that pork bun as soon as I get my hands on him for what he did to me this morning!"

"Oh?" Yuuko turned and swept into her sitting room. "What did Mokona do?"

Kimihiro followed her, trying hard not to step on her trailing hem. "That little beast switched out my soap, and I had gym today!"

Yuuko turned to face him, one brow lifting. "Your…soap?"

Kimihiro waved his arms. "It was vanilla!"

Yuuko frowned. "I happen to _like_ vanilla."

"Yuuko-san…!" Kimihiro's temper surged to the fore and he stomped in a circle waving his arms in agitation. "_I_ am _not_ a_ girl_!" He stopped and jabbed his long index finger toward her. "It damned near got me jumped in the shower!" A rustle of silk caught his attention. He turned sharply.

General Osusuki was still sitting cross-legged at the oval table, and he staring straight at Kimihiro, his ears up and his head slightly tilted.

Kimihiro's cheeks filled with embarrassed heat. "Um…" He gulped, then dropped into a quick bow. "My apologies for disturbing you, Kitsune-sama."

The fox lifted his clawed hands, showing his palms. "Oh, I didn't mind!" He lowered his hands and a smile lifted his full lips. "I found it rather…entertaining."

_Entertaining…?_ _He's laughing at me._ Kimihiro forcibly restrained his temper, but felt a twitch starting in his left eye. "I…see."

"Please…" The fox waved his hand indicating that Kimihiro should come to the table. "Would you pour the sake?"

Kimihiro blinked. "You mean there's some left?"

"Oh!" Yuuko pulled a fan out of nowhere and thwacked Kimihiro on the side of the head. "That was rude!"

"Ow!" Kimihiro ducked away, rubbing the sting on the side of his head. "What? I was just asking…!"

Yuuko huffed and strode past him to the right hand side of the oval table and flounce onto her cushion. She waved her fan. "You see what I have to deal with?"

The fox lifted a voluminous sleeve to shield his mouth, but his eyes were narrowed with obvious mirth. He coughed, then cleared his throat. "I…see." He lowered his sleeve and smiled mildly at Yuuko then Kimihiro. "It must be…tiring for you."

Both Kimihiro and Yuuko nodded. "It is," they chorused, and then glared at each other.

Kimihiro knelt down on the cushion at the side of the table, lifted his chin and grabbed for the sake bottle sitting in the center of the table. It was half full. His brows lifted in surprise. _How odd._ He turned to the fox. "Are you drinking?"

The fox lifted his small shallow bowl. "I am, thank you."

Kimihiro filled the fox's cup then turned to Yuuko.

She already had her bowl out.

Kimihiro filled it.

Rather than lift the bowl to her lips, Yuuko raised it toward the fox. "Watanuki, may I present Lord Osusuki Genko, the Senbii no kitsune, and general of Kami no Inari's armies."

Kimihiro turned to stare at the fox. He was a general for Kami no_ Inari_, as in, the rice goddess who also governed wealth?

The fox snorted. "Yes, _that_ Kami no Inari."

Kimihiro swallowed. "Then you're…?" He was one of the goddess's two celestial fox guardians?

The fox nodded. "Yes, I'm _that_ Osusuki Genko. Lady Osusuki Byako no Myobu is my sister."

_Oh crap…_ Kimihiro jerked his gaze away to stare out into the night. This was no ordinary spirit. He was sitting next to something very close in power to a god. _Crap, crap, crap!_

"Relax…" General Osusuki leaned over and patted Kimihiro's ice cold hand. "Being a general is just a job like any other."

_Just a job? Riiight…_ The fox worked for a freaking _goddess_! Kimihiro nodded, his head bobbing all by itself. "Yeah, um…sure." He voice came out embarrassingly tight.

Yuuko nodded toward Kimihiro but her gaze remained on the fox. "General. May I present Watanuki Kimihiro."

The fox's brows lifted. "April first? Oh, so that's why Mokona called him an April fool."

Kimihiro's state of awe was washed clean away by his temper. He ground his teeth. "I swear, I'm deep-frying that meat-bun then filleting him and rolling the pieces into sushi!"

General Osusuki blinked, snorted, then lifted his sake bowl in a poor attempt to cover his humor. "So, Watanuki Kimihiro, can you tell me what day this is?"

_Eh…?_ Kimihiro frowned slightly. "It's Tuesday."

The fox glanced at him then his gaze turned to Yuuko.

Yuuko held very still, and she was not smiling.

General Osusuki sipped at his sake, but did not break eye contact with Yuuko. "Watanuki-kun, can you tell me what you ate for lunch today?"

Kimihiro opened his mouth to say what he'd eaten, but nothing came to mind. He closed his mouth and frowned. He remembered going to the music room with Doumeki, he remembered eating and he remembered the kiss, but he couldn't quite remember what he'd eaten. His frown deepened. _Damn it I should know this, I made it myself!_

General Osusuki set his bowl down. "Watanuki-kun, it is not Tuesday, it's Friday."

_Friday? _Kimihiro felt the prickling of cold sweat across his shoulders. That couldn't be right! He turned sharply to look over at the fox, then over at Yuuko. "But, I had gym today and we have gym on Tuesdays."

Yuuko looked down at her lap and plucked at her robes. "If I am not mistaken, you have gym on Tuesdays and Fridays."

Kimihiro stiffened. It was true, he did. "But… But I remember what I ate last night, and…" And Doumeki's kiss. Heat filled his cheeks and his heart gave a hard thump. "And something that happened after dinner."

The fox tilted his head. "Something happened after dinner?"

Yuuko looked over at Kimihiro. "A very _interesting_ conversation." She smiled.

Kimihiro blinked. _Oh yeah, we were talking about…sex._ A chilling wash of alarm lift the hair on the back of his neck. He threw up a hand in her direction. "No need to go into details! Please!"

Yuuko's smile widened into a grin. "I'm afraid Watanuki-kun found it rather…shocking."

Kimihiro ground his teeth even as his face filled with ferocious heat. "Yuuko-san…!"

Yuuko dissolved into giggles.

"Shocking eh?" General Osusuki lifted the sake bottle in an offer to fill Yuuko's bowl. "Shocking enough that you… passed out?"

"Eh?" Kimihiro turned sharply to stare at the fox. _How the hell…?_ He squirmed on his cushion. "So what if I did? It was_really _embarrassing." He ducked his head to hide his burning cheeks. Did _everyone_ need to go out of their way to embarrass him?

Still giggling, Yuuko accepted her refill and offered to fill the general's bowl in return.

Kimihiro folded his arms across his narrow chest. "You can stop laughing Yuuko-san. It wasn't _that_ funny."

General Osusuki accepted his refill and sipped. "Do you pass out often?"

Yuuko's chuckles stopped cold.

"Eh?" Kimihiro lifted his head to stare at the fox, frowning.

The fox returned Kimihiro's point blank stare. "And how often do you dream when you pass out?"

Kimihiro's frowned deepened. "I dream every time."

The fox smiled mildly. "Do you meet people there?"

Chill-bumps rose all over Kimihiro's body, lifting the small hairs and conjuring a shiver. He looked over at Yuuko. "Uh…"

Yuuko nodded solemnly.

Kimihiro turned back to the fox. "I do…meet people."

General Osusuki set down his sake bowl. "How often do you…pass out and meet people?"

_How often…?_ He frowned in thought. "I'm not sure. A few times a week, sometimes a couple of times a day."

The fox sighed. "Watanuki Kimihiro, you are a very, very talented young man." He offered a smile. "But I'm afraid that you are also in great danger of disappearing."

_Disappearing…?_ Kimihiro jolted back so hard he fell off his cushion and sprawled on the floor behind it. He scuttled back shaking in terror. _Don't disappear! Don't disappear! Don't disappear!_

General Osusuki blinked, then lifted both hands. "Calm down! I only want to help you."

Kimihiro grabbed his elbows to stop the shaking. "Do you know what's happening to me?"

General Osusuki nodded. "Your soul is dispersing into the dreamscape."

Kimihiro stared at him blankly. "Eh?"

The fox sighed and set his hands on the table. "Simply put, every time you step into a dream to meet someone part of you stays behind which is why your memories are missing."

"Stays behind…?" Kimihiro shook his head. "I _think_ I understand." He sucked on his bottom lip. "Sort of."

General Osusuki pursed his lips. "How to put this simply…" His tall ears flicked back then forward again. "When you come back from the dreamscape your soul become confused as to where it's supposed to go, so parts of your soul have become lost."

Kimihiro stiffened in alarm. "What do you mean…_lost_? Do you mean gone forever?"

The general shook his head and smiled. "No, merely unable to find it's way back."

Kimihiro shivered. "Is this…permanent."

The fox smiled. "Not at all."

Kimihiro inched closer. "How do I…fix it?"

General Osusuki took a slow deep breath. "You need an anchor, someone with a direct link to your soul to keep you connected to at least one world. Normally, your blood relations act as your anchors, but…"

Kimihiro swallowed hard. "But I don't have any." He looked over at Yuuko. "But I am connected, to you, aren't I?"

Yuuko smiled. "You are connected to me, and this house, yes…"

General Osusuki folded his hands into his voluminous sleeves. "If you didn't have such a strong connection to Yuuko, you would have completely dissipated by now."

Kimihiro felt his hair trying to stand on end. He looked over at Yuuko.

Yuuko smiled and reached out to pat his hand. "See? I really do have an attachment to you." She lifted a brow and grinned. "And your cooking."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks."

The general lifted his chin. "However…"

Kimihiro looked over at the general. "However?"

The fox took a deep breath. "However, Yuuko exists between worlds. Her house straddles several realities, not just the one you…came from. This makes it easier for you to dream-walk, and at the same time, harder for you to come back because…" He leaned forward to catch and hold Kimihiro's gaze. "Your closest connections are on worlds other than the one you came from."

Kimihiro frowned. _Closest connections…?_ Yuuko had told him on more than one occasion that he had a connection to Sayoran, both versions. In fact, Sayoran had even mentioned that there was a connection between them, though Sayoran wouldn't tell him what that connection was. If he remembered right, he also had a connection to Sakura, and none of them lived in his world. In fact, they were bouncing from world to world. Was that why his memories were drifting off and he felt so…unconnected all the time? He tilted his head to the side. _I suppose it makes a weird kind of sense. _

General Osusuki clasped his hands together on the table top. "I came to see Yuuko because I needed someone like you, a dream-walker, someone that can travel through the dreamscape."

Kimihiro shook his head. "I can't control it. I just…do it."

The fox lifted his hand, presenting his palm. "I'm well aware of that. However, in trade for your services…" He set his hand down on the table and smiled. "I'm willing to teach you how to control your talent, and act as your anchor." His gaze drifted over to Yuuko. "And I'm willing to pay any price Yuuko cares to set for the privilege."

Kimihiro frowned at him. "But I don't have any connection to you."

The fox held out his hand. "Then we'll make a connection."

"Don't touch him." The voice was low, deep, and vibrating with anger.

Kimihiro whirled around.

Directly behind him stood Doumeki, back in his white summer school uniform and with his bow in hand with the string was drawn back to his ear. Silvery energy misted around him and coalesced into a line of blue-white fire that stretched between his extended hands, forming an arrow that appeared to be made of lightning.

Kimihiro stiffened in shock and his heart leapt into his throat. "D-Doumeki?" He rose to his knees, unable to look away from the glowing arrow. "What are you _doing_? And in Yuuko's house!"

Yuuko rose from her cushion. "Doumeki-kun, that will not be necessary."

"You can shoot if you like, but I assure you, your arrow it will do nothing to me." The fox's voice was low, and sounded somewhat amused.

Kimihiro turned sharply around. _What?_

General Osusuki folded his hands together on the table. His smile was wide, showing all of his long sharp teeth, and his blue gaze ice cold. "Your grandfather tried it, once."

Doumeki's gaze narrowed to slits, his eyes cold hard brass. He bared his teeth and his bowstring vibrated with tension. "Watanuki, come here."

Kimihiro rose to his feet. "Doumeki, what…?"

"We're leaving." Doumeki's gaze didn't waver from the fox. "Now."

_Leaving?_ Kimihiro clutched at the kitchen smock he wore and looked over at Yuuko. "But I have to…"

Doumeki's ground his teeth. "Now, Watanuki."

General Osusuki turned his gaze to Kimihiro and smoothed his smile to cover his teeth. "I'll return on the full moon for your answer, Watanuki Kimihiro."

Doumeki released a growl and spoke through his clenched teeth. "So help me Watanuki, I _will _shoot him if you don't get your ass over here!"

Kimihiro felt his heart slam down into the pit of his stomach. Doumeki _would_ shoot the fox and nothing Kimihiro could do or say would stop him. He'd learned that the hard way. Unable to think of anything else to do, he trotted over to Doumeki's side. "There, happy? Will you quit being an ass now?"

Doumeki didn't slacken his string or shift his gaze from the fox. "Out in the hall, go!"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever…" He stepped out of Yuuko's parlor and into the hallway.

Doumeki backed out into the hallway, his bow still drawn, his arrow still glowing. "Pick up the bag, and go to the front door."

Kimihiro looked down to see his own gray duffel bag sitting by the doorway. "What…?"

"Questions later, go!" Doumeki backed into him none to gently.

"Ow!" Kimihiro stumbled a step and grabbed the bag. "Why are you being such an ass?" He stopped at the end of the hall and looked back.

Doumeki released the tension on his bowstring, dissipating the glowing arrow, and slammed the double doors closed. He slapped a small piece of paper on the seam of the doors. The paper glowed briefly. He turned and trotted down the hallway toward Kimihiro with his strung bow in one hand. "Go! Get your shoes on!"

Kimihiro went to go put his shoes on. Hopefully he could reason with the cement-brained brute before Yuuko decided to do something…weird.

Doumeki joined him in the front alcove and stepped into his shoes.

Sitting on the step, Kimihiro held his shoes in his hand and looked up at him. "I can't leave. Yuuko said…"

"I heard what Yuuko said, I was in the hallway." Doumeki rolled up the canvas case he normally carried his bow in. "She meant, you can't leave, _voluntarily_."

Kimihiro tilted his head frowning. "Eh?"

Doumeki collected his school briefcase, then scowled at Kimihiro. "Your shoes, put them on."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes and stepped into his shoes. "She said…"

Doumeki loomed over Kimihiro. "As long as you're not leaving voluntarily, you're not giving up her protection."

Kimihiro stood up, scowling. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Doumeki shoved his briefcase and his canvas bag into Kimihiro's hands. "Grab your bag."

Kimihiro juggled the stuff Doumeki had given him and grabbed the handles of his duffel. "Doumeki, you're not making any sense!"

Doumeki leaned close, glaring straight into Kimihiro's eyes. "I'm kidnapping you, idiot."

Kimihiro blinked. "Eh?"

Doumeki grabbed him by the upper arm and propelled him out the double doors, then down the flagstone walkway toward the gate.

Kimihiro tripped along at his side, his house smock flapping in the breeze. "Doumeki! Doumeki, I don't think this is such a great idea!"

Doumeki's fingers tightened on Kimihiro's arm. "Shut up and keep moving."


	10. Chapter 10

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

* * *

_**Chapter Ten**_

* * *

"Doumeki, are you _sure_ this necessary?" Stark naked under the hot spray in the small glassed in shower stall with only a tiny white washcloth to cover…himself, Watanuki Kimihiro turned to look over his shoulder and glared at his greatest nemesis. "I _really_ don't think you need to be in the room with me while I bathe." 

Doumeki didn't shift from where he leaned against the open shower door. He had changed from his school clothes into a knee-length white cotton robe. He didn't seem to be wearing much else. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw tight. His gaze didn't waver from Kimihiro's body. A small bead of sweat rolled down his brow.

Kimihiro ground his teeth. _What, is he asleep on his feet or something?_ "Must you stare at me?"

Doumeki blinked. "Hm?" He looked up at Kimihiro's face. "You have to be clean and purified before I can put up the proper barriers."

"Fine!" Kimihiro turned the knob, shutting off the water. "I'm clean! Now can I get dressed?"

Doumeki knelt down to grab a wide wooden bucket full of water. "Lose the facecloth." He straightened, lifting the full bucket to his shoulder.

Kimihiro clutched the facecloth tighter to his…privates. He was well aware that Doumeki already knew his secret shame, but that didn't make him any more comfortable about it. He eyed the bucket with grave misgivings. "That's cold water, isn't it?"

"It's to purify you." Doumeki reached out with his long arms and snatched the small square of cloth from Kimihiro's hands.

"Hey!" Kimihiro dropped one hand to cover himself, and reached out with the other hand to grab for the cloth.

Doumeki hefted the bucket, tossing the water and dousing Kimihiro from head to toe. "Yes, it's cold."

Kimihiro's body went almost instantly numb and goose-bumps erupted on every inch of him. He gasped in shock. "O-oh, sh-shit!" The water wasn't cold. It was _freezing_. He shivered violently and whirled, grabbing for the shower knob to turn on the hot water.

"Don't!" Doumeki lunged into the shower stall and grabbed Kimihiro's wrist. "That will ruin the properties of the well water."

"W-well water?" Kimihiro tugged at his wrist. "No wonder its f-freezing, d-damn you!" _Purification my ass!_ Doumeki was clearly a sadist.

Doumeki pulled on Kimihiro wrist, tugging him from the shower stall. "It was that, or rubbing you down with sea salt."

Kimihiro stiffened. _Salt…?_ That did not sound even remotely…comfortable. He'd gotten sand in extremely inconvenient places before. He didn't want to even consider what it would feel like to be rubbed in what amounted to sharp-edged gravel. Okay, so maybe Doumeki wasn't a_ total_ sadist. "Uh, I'll take the water."

Doumeki grabbed the towel hanging on the railing by the door. "Thought you might. The salt kind'a stings." He shoved the towel into Kimihiro's hands. "Here."

"It stings?" Frowning, Kimihiro turned his back to Doumeki, unfolded the towel, and wrapped it around himself. "How would you…?"

Doumeki snorted and smiled sourly. "Putting me in girls' clothes wasn't the only stunt my grandfather pulled to 'strengthen my character'." He stepped out of the small bathroom.

Kimihiro started scrubbing the towel over his body vigorously. Haruka-san, had rubbed Doumeki down with salt? He shook his head and mumbled under his breath. "I find that kind'a hard to believe that Haruka-san would do something like _that_."

"I'm not surprised." Doumeki's voice was soft, low, and right behind him.

Kimihiro gasped and whirled around raising the towel between them. "Would you _please _stop sneaking up on me like that?"

"Hm?" Doumeki's brows lifted and his eyes widened slightly, in a far too obviously innocent fashion. He held out a deep red bundle that appeared to be made of heavy silk. "Put this on."

Kimihiro grabbed the bundle. "I don't know who you think you're fooling, but that innocent act doesn't work on me."

Doumeki rolled his eyes and heaved a small sigh. "Whatever…" He pointed at the cloth in Kimihiro's hand. "Get dressed."

Kimihiro blew out a breath. "Fine." The bundle unfolded into a long robe with wide sleeves. The whole thing was embroidered with tumbling sakura blossoms of the palest pink. It was very pretty. Too pretty. He had the strongest suspicion that Doumeki had just handed him a girl's under-robe, something normally worn as the bottom layer under a maiden's formal kimono as a statement of her virginity. He clenched his jaw. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Doumeki blinked. "It was the only thing I could find small enough for you to wear."

Kimihiro bared his teeth. "You are only one centimeter taller!_One…!_"

Doumeki's brows lowered and his jaw tightened. "And about ten centimeter's wider."

Kimihiro flinched. He didn't have an argument for such an obvious truth, but he absolutely did _not_ want to wear anything so blatantly feminine. He took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his temper. "No thank you." He pushed it back toward Doumeki. "I have clothes."

Doumeki shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. "That's been purified. You can't wear your clothes until I've cleaned them."

Kimihiro stiffened, clutching the red robe. "None of them? Not even my underwear?" This _had_ to be a joke.

Doumeki's features smoothed out to complete non-expression. "Just put on the robe." He tilted his head and lifted a brow. "Unless you'd rather be nude?"

"What? No!" Kimihiro threw the towel at him. "Get out you pervert!"

Doumeki sauntered out of the small bathroom, and something sounding suspiciously like a chuckle followed in his wake.

Kimihiro shrugged into the long red robe. _Over-grown, sanctimonious, perverted, sadistic, ass…!_ The robe's side ties were a little high and the obi sash was wider than an ordinary man's obi, proving once and for all that it was indeed a girl's robe. "You son of…!"

In a towering rage, Kimihiro slammed out of the bathroom. He stomped down the center aisle between the rows of bookshelves, his heels thumping on the hardwood floor. The Doumeki family sacred library wasn't a large building by any means, but it was crammed from floor to rafters and heavily shadowed. The gabled windows were all closed and barred. Towering bookshelves and scroll nooks covered every available inch of wall space all the way up to the pitched ceiling. Small, glass-enclosed oil lamps set in strategic corners were the only source of light. "Doumeki, you bastard, where the hell are you?"

Doumeki stood up in the very middle of the library by the bright red center support post, and turned around with a scowl. "What is it now?"

Kimihiro angled his way through the maze of bookshelves until he was face to face with the big brute. "This!" He tugged at the embroidered sleeve of his robe. "This is a _girl's_ robe!"

Doumeki rolled his eyes. "So?" He motioned Kimihiro to step to the side.

Kimihiro absently moved to his left and threw out his arms. "Are you_ trying_ to humiliate me?"

Doumeki's brows lowered and the corner of his mouth turned downward. "I'm _trying_ to do a ceremony." He stepped in close, the heat of his body washing across Kimihiro.

A shiver rippled down Kimihiro's spine and heat flared low in his belly. He sucked in a breath and stepped back. His butt bumped the support pole.

Doumeki nodded. "Good stay right there." He turned around and picked up a thick square cushion upholstered in unbleached cotton. "You can sit on this, but keep your back against the pole."

Kimihiro took the pillow. "Is there a reason for this?"

Doumeki turned away from Kimihiro and sat down by a coil of rope and a small pile of long narrow yellow papers that appeared to be sutras. "Yeah, the floor's hardwood."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Not the pillow, you moron, I meant a reason why I have to sit _here_, by the post?"

"I'm keying the wards on the library to include you too." He picked up a paper and attached the top edge to the rope.

"Oh…" Kimihiro frowned slightly. _I suppose that answers my question. _He shook his head and chalked it up to Doumeki being Doumeki. _Whatever…_ He turned to eye the post behind him. It was frikkin huge, much wider than most telephone poles. Considering that it probably supported the weight of the entire roof, it made sense. It was also bright red, though the paint was blotchy in places.

_No, wait a minute…_ He frowned. The paint wasn't blotchy, something seemed to be written on the pole in large, but faded and blurry characters. He frowned. He had no idea what the characters meant. They didn't match up with any kanji he knew. Were they some form of Chinese? His gaze traveled upwards to where it connected with the beams that supported the ceiling. There were more characters scattered across all of the support beams in no apparent order. He looked back at Doumeki. "Can you read these characters?"

Doumeki turned sharply around, his brows up and his eyes slightly wider than normal. "What characters?"

Kimihiro jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the pole behind him. "The ones all over this and the ceiling beams. They're kind of faded though."

Doumeki frowned at the pole, then raised one hand and covered his left eye. His uncovered right eye widened and his lips parted. "Oh…" His gaze traveled upward to the ceiling beams. "Okay, I see…"

Kimihiro's brows lifted. "You have to use…?"

"Yeah…" His gaze focused upward, Doumeki turned all the way around. "I can only see it with our shared eye."

Kimihiro blinked. If Doumeki had to use their shared eye to see the characters, then the characters were spiritual, not physical. Kimihiro turned back to look at the pole. Were the characters…_magic?_He looked over his shoulder at Doumeki. "Can you read them?"

"Yeah." The edge of Doumeki's mouth lifted in a slight smile and he nodded. "This makes everything a lot easier." He looked over at Kimihiro, and pointed at the cushion by the pole. "Sit, stay. I'll be right back." He turned and strode away.

Kimihiro ground his teeth. "Sit? Stay? What am I, a dog?"_Arrogant, over-grown, pushy, pain in my ass… _He took in a deep breath, gathered the long folds of the scarlet robe close around him, and knelt down on the pillow. Unfortunately, his back didn't touch the pole. He tried leaning back, but that was not only awkward, but too much of his body weight rested uncomfortably on his feet. He tried scooting further back, but that put his feet to either side of the pole, spreading them uncomfortably wide and forcing him to sit on his butt splay-footed rather like a child. He _could_ sit with his feet tucked to the side, but that was a very, _very_ feminine way to sit. No way in hell was he going to sit that way.

The solution of course, was to sit cross-legged. Unfortunately, the robe was very narrow. It was not designed for anything other than kneeling or chair sitting. Sitting cross-legged would expose not only his legs, but quite possibly the fact that he wasn't wearing any underwear too. "Stupid robe!" Annoyed, Kimihiro rose to his feet.

Doumeki stepped from between a pair of bookshelves carrying a decoratively carved wooden box. He looked over at Kimihiro, and his brows lifted. "Is there a problem?"

Kimihiro crossed his arms and aimed a death-glare at the pillow. "I'm just trying to find a proper way to sit in this really narrow robe."

Doumeki rolled his eyes. "Hike the robe up, sit cross-legged, and tuck it around you."

Kimihiro shot him a sour glare. "That will bare my legs." And possibly…other things.

"So what?" Doumeki crouched to set the wooden trunk on the floor by the coiled rope and pile of sutras. "No one's going to see you but me, and I've already seen you naked."

Kimihiro swiped a hand down his face. Doumeki had a point. "Fine, whatever…" He bunched up the bottom of the robe baring his long pale legs to the thighs. With just a small amount of fuss, he sat down on the cushion, folded his legs, and tucked the robe's length into his lap.

Doumeki blinked wide-eyed, then turned to the carved box and lifted off the lid. "Can I ask you something?" He peered into the box.

Kimihiro blinked. "Uh, sure. What?"

Doumeki reached into the box and rummaged. "Why did you make such a big fuss over wearing a girl's robe when you shave like one?"

"What?" Kimihiro's mouth fell open. _Shave like a girl…?_ "I do _not…_!"

"You do." Doumeki pulled out two small loops of pale green beads with red tassels from the wooden box. "Only girls shave their legs, their under-arms, and their…" His cheeks pinked. "Their pubic hair." He turned to Kimihiro frowning. "You did know that right?"

"Of course I know that! I'm not a complete idiot!" Kimihiro's mouth closed with a click of his teeth and looked away. His face warmed. Apparently, the bastard _had_ noticed his lack of…hair, and assumed he'd done it deliberately. He took in a deep breath and crossed his arms. "I didn't shave it"

Doumeki turned to face Kimihiro with wide eyes. "You didn't?"

Kimihiro turned away, his face burning. "It's…natural." There was a loud thump. Kimihiro turned to look.

Doumeki sat on the floor, his legs sprawled, his eyes wide.

Kimihiro frowned at him. "Doumeki?"

Doumeki stared at Kimihiro. "You're naturally hairless…?"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "I have hair, just not…" He shrugged. "That kind."

Doumeki's eyes narrowed and his lips curved up into smirk that looked positively hungry.

Kimihiro barely held back his shiver. "Are you thinking perverted thoughts again?"

Doumeki rose to his feet. "And if I was?"

Kimihiro stiffened. He couldn't quite decide if he was furious, or flattered which of course annoyed him. "Doumeki, are you _trying_ to piss me off?"

Doumeki rolled his eyes. "Idiot." He walked over to Kimihiro, holding out the two small loops of beads with red tassels. "Put these on your wrists."

"Eh…?" Completely distracted from continuing his tirade, Kimihiro took the loops and peered at the smooth green beads that were as thick as his thumb. "Are these prayer beads?"

Doumeki nodded. "They're to connect you to the library." He walked back to his pile of papers and picked up the rope and all the sutras.

Kimihiro slipped the loops onto his wrists. "What's next?"

"I do the chant I found in one of my grandfather's books." Doumeki walked off with the looped rope, disappearing among the shadows.

Kimihiro squinted after him. "That's it?"

Doumeki returned empty-handed and sat down on the cushion. "Yes." He pulled an oversized scroll onto his lap and started unrolling it.

Kimihiro nodded firmly. "Good. Let's get this over with."

_Twenty minutes later… _

Only three feet away directly in front of Kimihiro, Doumeki was seated cross-legged with his eyes closed and his hands resting palm up on his splayed knees. His deep voice droned on, and on, and on, in a language that sounded like an extremely complicated form of Chinese.

Kimihiro shifted against the pole, trying to stay upright and in contact with the pole _How long is this damned chant anyway?_ Despite the thickness of the pillow, his butt-cheeks were seriously starting to ache. His shoulders weren't doing much better, and he definitely had a crick in his neck. However, the light electrical tingling around his heart had gotten really, _really_ annoying. It felt like tiny insane butterflies were trapped inside it, and damn it, it itched. He rubbed his chest, not that it did any good. The feeling was inside his chest.

Doumeki's voice dropped in tone to a deep resonating bass and held.

The small hairs rose on the back of Kimihiro's neck, then a shiver spilled down his back. Goosebumps erupted all down his body. He rubbed his arms, trying to settle the hair that had risen.

Without pause, Doumeki's voice dropped to an even lower pitch, and held.

Kimihiro blinked. _How is he doing that? Doesn't he have to breathe?_ He focused his gaze on the other boy's chest in sheer curiosity.

Doumeki's chest rose and fell though very slowly.

Kimihiro's brows lifted. _He_ is_ breathing._ He shook his head slightly. Sometimes Doumeki thoroughly amazed him. Not that he'd ever tell him that. Doumeki's ego was already far too insufferable as it was.

The small hairs on Kimihiro's arms finally settled, but the low vibration seemed to be resonating deeper, and lower. His heart began to pound and warmth suffused through his body. A light sweat broke out all over him. Kimihiro fanned his hand at his face. _Damn it's getting warm in here._ He began to pant for breath. His sight slid slightly out of focus.

Off on the left, something moved by the book case.

Kimihiro turned to face it, squinting. It looked like a person only they seemed to be wavering, as though they were under water. He focused harder and the figure became a bit more solid. It vaguely looked like Doumeki, only in long green robes. Kimihiro frowned. "Haruka-san?"

The figure waved and appeared to be shouting.

Kimihiro shook his head. "I can't hear you."

Haruka-san lifted his hands and took a step stepped closer, clearly pushing at something. He continued to shout, but the voice that reached Kimihiro was barely more a whisper. "St…! St-stop…Shizuka! Stop the ritual!"

_Stop the ritual?_ Ice water spilled into Kimihiro's veins. He turned to face Doumeki.

Eyes closed, Doumeki reached down to the scroll and lifted a small blade.

Kimihiro blinked. A knife? Was Doumeki planning to cut himself?

On his left, Haruka waved frantically, still shouting, though his voice was heavily muffled. "Stop him! _Stop him_!"

Kimihiro leaned forward to rise to his feet and shouted. "Doumeki, stop!" He was jerked to a halt, the base of his spine refusing to leave the post, as though a rope was tied around his hips. He looked down and saw something transparent and rope-like wrapped around him, tying him to the post. He gasped in shock and grabbed for it, but his fingers went right through it. He couldn't touch it. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" He looked over at the archer. "Doumeki, you've got to stop! Haruka-san wants you to stop!"

Doumeki continued the low deep tone with his eyes still closed as though he hadn't heard him. He lifted his arms wide, then slowly brought the upright blade toward his palm.

"Doumeki!" He pushed on the floor with his palms, then turned and shoved at the post with one hand, trying to separate himself. "Doumeki, stop! You've got to _stop_!"

Doumeki brought his hands together, his eyes opening. His voice stilled. Heavy silence filled the air. He pressed the tip of the blade to his thumb.

Kimihiro waved and shouted. "Doumeki, _stop_!"

Doumeki flinched slightly and frowned at Kimihiro.

Kimihiro sighed in relief. "I don't know what you're doing, but Haruka-san doesn't want you to do it."

Doumeki's eyes widened. "My grandfather?"

Kimihiro nodded, then noticed a thin line of scarlet sliding from Doumeki's thumb to his wrist. He pointed. "You're bleeding."

Doumeki turned to look at his hand. He jerked his hand away from the unrolled scroll across his lap. A few drops of blood fell free. As though in slow motion the scarlet droplets arc through the air, and landed on the edge of the paper book.

Off to the left, Haruka-san winced and spoke, his voice soft but clear. "Shit."

A hard wave of pressure slammed into Kimihiro's chest, slamming him back into the pole behind him, and forcing the wind from his lungs. Abruptly, whatever was holding him to the pole, left. He fell forward, barely throwing his hands before him in time to save his face from the hardwood floor. He gasped the air back into his lungs and pushed back up onto his cushion, panting. The air seemed thicker than before. It was hard to get a full breath. On top of that, his back felt bruised where it had hit the pole. He winced rubbed a fist against his back. "Ow…"

The air between Kimihiro and Doumeki thickened and rippled into an oval sheet about as tall as Doumeki and about two arm's length across. A shadow formed at the very center that was tall, upright, and human shaped.

Kimihiro stared at the shadow with deep misgivings. It didn't feel...bad, but it was definitely other-worldly, and really, _really_ strong. He spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "Doumeki, what the hell did you just do?"

Still seated cross-legged on his cushion, Doumeki stared wide-eyed at the figure forming in the rippling air. "I invoked the library's guardian."

Deep, masculine chuckles spilled from the oval of air. "What you invoked was your grandfather's patron." The figure stepped from the circle of wavering air and into the heart of the library. He was dressed in layered robes of azure, sapphire, silver, and black tied closed with a midnight blue obi sash. The long black outer robe was painted with swirls of violet clouds and twinkled with glittering bead stars. Tall black ears unfolded from under his knee-length black hair and three long black fox tails tipped in white spilled from under his robe. "Which just happens to be me."

Doumeki jerked back from his cushion, falling back onto his elbows, his eyes wide.

Kimihiro felt his stomach drop to his feet. Directly in front of him, only an arm's reach away, stood General Osusuki.

Osusuki nodded toward Doumeki. "Greetings, Doumeki Shizuka. I knew your grandfather Doumeki Haruka very well."

Doumeki looked up at the fox, frowning. "He made _you_ his guardian?"

Osusuki snorted. "You should listen when others speak. I was Doumeki Haruka's patron. I didn't serve him; he served me in trade for my protection."

Kimihiro winced for Doumeki's sake. _Oh crap… _

"And since you were so kind as to voluntarily sign your grandfather's contract with your blood…" Osusuki waved a clawed hand at the scroll still spread across Doumeki's lap. "This Osusuki Genko, Senbii no kitsune, lord of the Eastern Watchtower and general of Kami no Inari's armies, accepts you, Doumeki Shizuka into his service."

Doumeki lunged up onto his feet. "Now wait just a minute, I did_not_…!"

The fox lifted a clawed hand, presenting his palm. Transparent ribbons unravel from his fingertips to wrap around Doumeki's throat and body.

Doumeki voice cut off in mid-sentence. His eyes opened wide and he grabbed for his throat.

The fox fisted his hand and lowered it toward the floor. The ribbons around Doumeki tightened and pulled downward.

Doumeki stiffened, his entire body vibrating with tension. Slowly, he collapsed onto his knees.

Osusuki shook his head slowly. "That you didn't know what the contract entailed matters not." He shrugged. "You signed the contract, Doumeki-kun. You put yourself into my service." He waved his index finger. The ribbons around Doumeki throat loosened.

Doumeki scowled ferociously up at the fox. "For how long?" He coughed. "Kitsune-sama."

The fox shrugged. "Until I free you."

Doumeki ground his teeth. "You mean, until I die?"

Osusuki shook his head and chuckled. "I'm afraid that death is no escape from me." He leaned down to speak softly. "I am a spirit and in service to a Goddess, you know."

Doumeki turned away, his shoulders slumping.

The general straightened and waved his hand. The ribbons around Doumeki dissipated into fine mist. "You should look at the bright side, Doumeki-kun…!" He turned to face the wavering sheet of air and smiled at Watanuki, flashing his fangs.

Doumeki looked over at Watanuki, eyes wide.

Osusuki glanced over his shoulder at Doumeki. "When I come to take Watanuki-kun, you'll be coming too." He stepped into the oval sheet of air, and it collapsed around him.

The pressure around Watanuki's chest released. He slumped against the pole and sucked in a deep breath.

Doumeki scraped his fingers through his short hair, scowling. "Shit…"

Watanuki released a weak chuckle. "That's what Haruka-san said."


	11. Chapter 11

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence, and non-consensual seduction.

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Chapter Eleven

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Doumeki stared at the bookcase to his right and his scowl deepened. "I fucked up." He closed his eyes tight, his jaw clenched, and his mouth twisted in a bitter snarl. "Shit." He pressed his hands to his face and bent forward, his head nearly touching his knees. "Shit...!"

Kimihiro blinked then frowned. Something wasn't right here. "Doumeki?"

"Damn it!" Doumeki curled tighter into himself. "Gods, damn it!" His voice was soft, but it was also unusually high and a trifle...broken.

The sound stabbed right through Kimihiro's heart because he recognized it. He'd made that sound himself more often than he cared to admit--though only in absolute privacy.

It was not a sound that belonged to Doumeki.

Kimihiro clutched the folds of the kimono over his heart. _This isn't right._ Doumeki was arrogant, perverted, pushy, bossy, and conceited, but not _this_, not..._this_ at all! _This_ had to stop! He set his jaw, rose to his feet, and padded barefoot across the polished floor. Standing over his nemesis, he folded his arms across his chest, lifted his chin in his haughtiest manner said the rudest thing he could think of. "Oi."

Doumeki stiffened then took a deep breath. He lifted his head. His eyes were narrowed, suspiciously red, and a trifle damp under his lowered brows. His cheeks though, were dry though flagged with pink. His mouth was set in a firm scowl.

Kimihiro magnanimously decided that he would not notice anything beyond the scowl. _That_ he knew. _That_ was familiar. He lifted one slim brow. "Does this mean I can get _properly_ dressed now?"

Doumeki's hands tightened on his knees, his knuckles turning white. The color on his cheeks darkened to red, and his curled his lip, showing his teeth in an open snarl. "Don't you get it? I fucked up!"

The small hairs on the back of Kimihiro's neck lifted. Doumeki was pissed, _seriously_ pissed. Still, it was better than..._that_. Kimihiro put on his broadest smirk. "Proving at long last that you're human after all."

A low growl vibrated from Doumeki's chest. He lunged up onto his knees and grabbed Kimihiro's upper arms with punishing force. "I practically handed you to that damned fox on a silver platter!"

Kimihiro worked very hard not to wince at the bruises he could feel forming on his arms. He couldn't help but notice that Doumeki was trembling -- no, vibrating with fury. He took in a steadying breath and spoke in as even a voice as he could command. "Doumeki, General Osusuki is a celestial fox. He's practically a god. I doubt anything you could have done would have prevented..."

Doumeki shook Watanuki by the arms. "If I hadn't fucked up, I could have kept him out!"

Kimihiro curled his lip in annoyance. _Hard-headed, egotistical, arrogant, idiot_...! "For how long, Doumeki? Really...?" He grabbed onto Doumeki's sleeves -- to steady himself of course. "How long could you really keep the general of a goddess's army out of here?"

Doumeki's jaw visibly tightened. He spoke through his clenched teeth. "As long as it took."

Kimihiro shook his head hard. "Don't be stupid. I have school on Monday, remember? The instant I left for class, he or Yuuko would--"

Doumeki's fingers dug into Kimihiro's arms painfully. "Who said you'd leave?"

Kimihiro blinked. "What?" He rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't just...keep me here."

Doumeki's brows lowered and his gaze turned to hard brass. "I can't?" He yanked hard on Kimihiro's arms.

Kimihiro's knees hit the pillow, landing right between Doumeki's knees -- hard. He wasn't able to hold back his gasp, or his wince. Who knew a pillow could be so _solid_? "Okay, so you're stronger than me, but unless you plan to tie me up..." Memory seared through his brain--

--Doumeki holding the blue cord between his hands with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

Alarm raced through Watanuki and he sucked in a sharp breath. _Change the subject!_ _Change the subject!_ _Change the subject!_ "But all that's beside the point now!"

"It's _not_ beside the point." Doumeki released Kimihiro's left arm to cup the slender boy's chin, forcing Kimihiro to meet his hot golden gaze. "He wants your virginity."

"Will you quit it with the grabbing?" Annoyed, Kimihiro grabbed onto Doumeki's wrist and turned his head to pull his chin from the larger boy's near-painful fingers. "That's not all he wants and it's not like my v--" He couldn't say it, not out loud. He swallowed hard. "It's not like..._that_ is precious. I wasn't saving it or anything." _Gods, could this conversation get any more embarrassing? _

Doumeki's hand slid to the back of Watanuki's neck and into his fine hair. "_I_ wanted to be your first. I wanted to be your..._only_."

Distracted by the tingling in his scalp and the heat spilling downward, he didn't think before he spoke. "My first, and only...what?"

Doumeki tugged Watanuki's head closer until Doumeki's burning eyes filled Kimihiro's vision. "I love you."

_Love...?_ Watanuki's blinked while his face filled with mortified warmth. _Okay, yes indeed this conversation _could_ get even more embarrassing._ He turned his head, dodging Doumeki's far too direct gaze. "Okay, fine, but..."

Doumeki's fingers curled tight in Watanuki's hair, forcing the slender boy's gaze back to his. "I _love_ you."

Embarrassment and uneasiness, plus the coiling, tightening, _thrilling_, warmth spilling into his...lower extremities, combined into an oddly frustrating morass in the pit of Kimihiro's stomach. Unsure of what was going on with Doumeki, or his own body, never mind the fox issue, Kimihiro's temper snapped. Glaring for all he was worth, he used his free hand to whack the side of Doumeki's head. "Snap out of it! This isn't a life or death issue! The fox isn't going to kill me! He just wants to f-- err..." No way could he say _that_ word. "Have s-s-sex with me, right?"

Doumeki blinked in open astonishment, then his eyes narrowed into golden slits and his lips curled back to bare his teeth. "It doesn't bother you; that he wants to fuck you?"

His face on fire, Kimihiro wriggled a little uncomfortably, but still managed to hold his glare against Doumeki's burning gaze. "Of course, it bothers me! But as long as I'm still breathing at the end of it I can deal with it." He dropped his gaze. "And I'd kind of like to stop...losing myself."

Doumeki's glare faded and his shoulders slumped. "I..." With frightening speed, his arms slid under Kimihiro's to close around Kimihiro's waist. He pressed his face against the slender boy's throat. "I...wanted to be the one to...to help you."

Kimihiro tried very hard not to shudder, but Doumeki's breath was _warm_ against his neck, and ear. Not quite sure what to do with his hands, he set them on Doumeki's shoulders and plucked at the larger boy's robe. "Doumeki, you..." He swallowed hard. "You help." He groaned and rolled his eyes. "All the time in fact; even when I don't want you to -- no, _especially_ when I don't want you to."

Doumeki whispered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Idiot..." His mouth opened against Kimihiro's throat and a hot, wet, _something_ swept along the long muscle.

Kimihiro blinked and his heart began to pound in his chest. Was Doumeki..._licking_ his neck? "Um, Doumeki?"

"Mmm?" The lips against Kimihiro's throat moved and teeth joined what clearly had to be Doumeki's tongue.

"Ah..." Kimihiro shivered hard and his fingers tightened on Doumeki's shoulders. The blood in his head raced downward to fill and tighten a different place entirely. He was getting an erection, and fast. He spoke in a voice that was more than a little breathless. "D-D-Doumeki? W-what...?"

Doumeki's left hand slid up Kimihiro's spine, bunching the red silk robe. The right slid under the scarlet folds to cup Kimihiro's bare butt-cheek, the fingers sinking in and _rubbing_. His lips moved against Kimihiro's neck. "_I_ love you."

Kimihiro was almost too busy noticing how...exciting Doumeki's hand on his butt was to answer properly. "Yes, yes, we've established that, repeatedly in fact." His chin lifted all by itself, giving Doumeki's mouth more room to maneuver.

Doumeki's right hand slid down to Kimihiro's thigh and gripped it. He pulled his head back to look up at Kimihiro with slitted eyes that burned. "You don't want him."

More than a little dazed, it actually took Kimihiro a moment to recall what Doumeki had said. He frowned. "No, of course not."

Doumeki's lips curved up into a chilling smirk. "You love me."

Kimihiro swallowed. He didn't trust that smirk, not one little bit, but what Doumeki was saying unnerved him even more. "Um..."

Doumeki's fingers tightened. "You love _me_, not him."

Kimihiro had no clue what was going on in Doumeki's head, but Doumeki's fingers were getting rather painful on his leg. He winced and looked away. He did sort-of, kind-of _care _for Doumeki, but he wasn't quite sure if he'd call it..._love_.

Doumeki yanked on Kimihiro's leg, pulling out from under him and tipping him backwards.

With a startled yelp, and a wind-milling of the arms, Kimihiro fell backwards.

On the way down, Doumeki's hand caught Kimihiro between his shoulders, so he landed on the bare wood floor surprisingly softly. Doumeki loomed over him, his palms on the floor to either side of Kimihiro's shoulders, his knees nudging Kimihiro's apart. "You _do _love me. Don't you?"

Pinned on his back, staring up into Doumeki's narrowed golden eyes with Doumeki's body heat and rich musky scent spilling over him was more than a little panic-inducing. Kimihiro blurted out the only thing that came to mind. "Okay!"

Doumeki smirked, his gaze hot with intent. "Good enough."

_What_? Kimihiro's blood ran cold. "D-Doumeki...?"

Doumeki dropped his head down to cover Kimihiro's lips.

Startled into a squeak of alarm, Kimihiro's mouth was wide open.

Doumeki's tongue surged past Kimihiro's parted lips in an aggressive foray that forcefully engaged Kimihiro in a near-violent kiss.

_What the hell...?_ Kimihiro grabbed onto Doumeki's shoulders, not quite sure if he wanted to push the larger boy away, or bring him closer. Truthfully, he liked Doumeki's kisses, but this one was a bit...frightening. He still tasted good, and smelled good, but...

Doumeki groaned deep in his chest and dropped onto his elbows, his knees spreading Kimihiro's legs a bit farther apart.

The warm hard muscle of Doumeki's belly pressed down onto Kimihiro's considerably softer belly along with something _else_. Something hot, rigid, cylindrical, and embarrassingly familiar was rubbing against his belly. Kimihiro was more than aware that he wasn't wearing any underwear, but from what he was feeling, apparently Doumeki wasn't either. It was deliciously exciting -- and intimidating. Doumeki was very, _very_ hard. He jerked his head to the side to free his mouth. "D-Doumeki...?"

Doumeki ducked his head and nosed under Kimihiro's robe to capture a small nipple with his lips. He sucked.

A spark of raw excitement burst in Kimihiro's nipple -- and in his dick. A gasping moan spilled from Kimihiro's mouth.

Biting tenderly on Kimihiro's nipple, Doumeki shifted his hips slightly, bringing his erection right up against Kimihiro's. He arched and flexed, blatantly rubbing his erection directly against Kimihiro's.

Kimihiro arched back and moaned. He couldn't _help _it. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to.

Doumeki's voice dropped to a bass growl against Kimihiro's chest. "I want you. I need you. I waited for you."

Though more than a little dazed, he wasn't completely incoherent. Kimihiro frowned up at the rafters. "Waited...? Waited for what?"

Doumeki sat up between Kimihiro's spread thighs. "For this." He grabbed the sash holding Kimihiro's robe closed and dug a finger into the knot. The slippery fabric slid and the knot came free. Serpent fast, he tugged the robe's side ties free as well. The robe began to part.

The blood left Kimihiro's face. "D-Doumeki?" He grabbed onto Doumeki's wrists to stop him. "What are you doing?"

Doumeki sharply twisted his wrists freeing his hands from Kimihiro's hold only to grab both of Kimihiro's. "Don't fight me."

Ice cold fear spilled through Kimihiro's body. He jerked at his wrists and twisted. "Then don't take my clothes off!"

Doumeki scowled ferociously and tightened his grip. "I said, don't fight me!"

Kimihiro only pulled harder and dug his heels into the floor to get out from under the larger boy. "Then quit--whatever it is you're doing!"

Doumeki growled and pinned both of Kimihiro's wrists in one hand, then yanked the sash out from under Kimihiro. "I can't." With amazing dexterity, he looped the sash around Kimihiro's wrists then between them. Using one hand and his teeth, he knotted it, binding Kimihiro's hands snugly together.

Kimihiro gasped in shock. "What the _fuck_ are you _doing_?"

Doumeki grinned with far too many teeth. "I knew you could say that word." Abruptly, he stood up and took three steps to the wall. With a hard tug, he opened a large drawer set under the shelves.

Kimihiro sat up and tugged at the sash that bound his hands. "Doumeki, this isn't funny!" He couldn't pull free. He used his teeth to try and bite the complicated knot open. Stupid thing wouldn't budge. "I don't know what you're up to--"

Doumeki dropped a folded futon mattress next to him and curled his lip. "You don't?" He kicked the futon, unrolling it, and the blankets that had been tucked into it. "Guess."

Kimihiro eyed the unrolled futon. A bed, Doumeki had pulled out a bed--and tied his hands after practically stripping him. There was no mistaking where this was leading. Fear began to spread into chilling panic. "Doumeki, you don't want to do this."

Doumeki stepped across the mattress and knelt before Kimihiro. "Yes, I do. In fact, I have since middle-school."

Kimihiro's eyes widened. "What...?"

"I told you, I've been waiting for you." Doumeki set one hand behind Kimihiro's head and pulled him into a quick hard kiss. "I'm done waiting." He grabbed Kimihiro under the arms and lifted him up off the floor and onto his feet as though the slender boy weighed nothing.

Kimihiro's robe flew wide open. "Shit!" He twisted in Doumeki's arms and turned to escape. "I'm not doing this!"

"No, you're not." Doumeki hauled Kimihiro back and pushed him. "I am."

Kimihiro fell backwards and landed sprawled on the futon. The air woofed from his lungs. He lay stunned. Not so much by the fall, but by the situation he was in. He simply couldn't believe he was about to be ra-- err, _molested_ by the one person that had saved his life--multiple times in fact. It just didn't make sense.

With casual deliberation, Doumeki straddled Kimihiro's waist and sat, pinning the slender boy to the mattress. "I take full responsibility."

Kimihiro blinked up at him. "Responsibility? For what? For..._molesting_ me?"

"Yes." Doumeki grabbed the trailing ties to Kimihiro's bound hands. Leaning forward over him, he pulled them until Kimihiro's arms were outstretched above his head.

Kimihiro was momentarily distracted by the sight of Doumeki's hard muscular chest so close to his face. Through the gap in his robe, he could see quite clearly that Doumeki's nipples were hard. Then he realized that Doumeki was definitely _doing_ something. He looked up.

Doumeki was knotting the ends of the sash that bound him to a ring bolted into the frame of the shelves.

"Oi! Oi! Oi!" Kimihiro kicked out and twisted, but Doumeki was too heavy to budge and up too high on his waist to reach with his foot. "Stop that! What _is_ with you and bondage?"

Doumeki sat back on Kimihiro's hips and set his hands on his thighs. He looked down at Kimihiro with a face almost completely devoid of expression--except for the lambent heat in his narrowed eyes. "I don't want you hurting yourself--or me."

"Damned right I'm going to hurt you!" Scowling ferociously, Kimihiro yanked on his wrists. The knot held firm. _Crap_. "If you don't want to get hurt, then don't do shit like this!"

Doumeki reached down and gently took Kimihiro's glasses off.

Kimihiro's world went slightly fuzzy. He blinked after the framed ovals in Doumeki's hand. "My glasses...!"

"They're in the way." Doumeki rose to his knees and leaned to the right to set them on a shelf.

"Let me go, you thick-head, oafish, brute!" Kimihiro aimed a kick at Doumeki's butt.

Doumeki caught his leg under the knee and bared his teeth. "Don't make me tie your legs too. You won't like it."

Kimihiro pulled at his leg. "I don't like it already!"

"I know." Keeping firm hold of Kimihiro's knee, he shifted back to kneel between Kimihiro's spread thighs. "I'll change your mind." He released Kimihiro's leg to set his palms on the mattress to either side of Kimihiro's hips, then leaned forward to loom over the far more slender boy.

Kimihiro flinched away, rising his knees defensively--not that it did any good with Doumeki already ensconced between them. His throat went tight making his voice come out in a whimper. "Doumeki, this... What you're doing is wrong."

Doumeki set his warm and slightly trembling palms on Kimihiro's bare chest. "I told you..." He swept them downward across Kimihiro's nipples, belly, hips, and thighs...spreading the scarlet robe wide. His dark pupils widened to swallow nearly all the gold. His tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip. "I'll take full responsibility."

Kimihiro stared up at Doumeki. This was bad. This was really, _really_ bad. He couldn't escape and the one person who always came to his rescue was the one about to... _Damn it!_ He felt the embarrassing prick of tears at the corners of his eyes and turned his face into his outstretched arm to hide them. Truthfully, he knew Doumeki wouldn't hurt him--on purpose, but he definitely wasn't ready for..._this_! He took a deep breath and spoke with a surprisingly even voice. "I don't want you to take responsibility.

"That's not your decision."

"What?" Kimihiro peeked out from under his arm. "What do you mean--?"

Doumeki met Kimihiro's gaze. The gold in his eyes were nearly swallowed by darkness. "This is my choice." Holding the slender boy's gaze, he reached down and closed his broad warm hand around Kimihiro's limp cock. "I chose you." He stroked firmly.

In sheer reaction, Kimihiro's belly jumped, and without conscious command--or rather, in spite of conscious command, his entire body tightened. Heat began to gather and pool. He sucked in a sharp breath. _Oh gods, no_! Despite being tied to the wall, despite the fact that this was only the prelude to something far more intimate, probably painful and definitely embarrassing, despite the fact that he did _not_ want this, he was getting hard.

His gaze pinned to Kimihiro, Doumeki lowered his head to take Kimihiro's cock into his mouth--and sucked.

The heat, the wetness, the _tongue_... Kimihiro gasped and arched, his head going back in open-mouthed astonishment, his hands wide open in their bindings. He took a deep breath to hold back the moan that wanted to slip free. Doumeki's hand on him in the shower had been incredible, but this was..._this_ was heaven--and hell because he did _not_ want this happening.

His hips began to buck, all by themselves, driving his cock deeper into Doumeki's mouth. He tried to still them, he really did. He did _not_ want to encourage Doumeki in any way, but his body clearly had other ideas and... And it felt so horribly, irresistibly, fantastically _good_, he wasn't so sure he wanted to argue with it. A tortured moan escaped his throat. _Damn it_!

His balls tightened and his body clenched hard. Oh gods, he was going to cum! He was going to cum right in Doumeki's mouth! Kimihiro grabbed onto the sash that bound him to the wall and whimpered in frustration. "Shit, shit, shit...!"

Doumeki pulled back, letting Kimihiro's cock slip from his mouth.

Kimihiro meant to blow out a relieved sigh, but it came out a moan that sounded distinctly like frustration.

A chilling smirk lifted the corners of Doumeki's mouth. He lifted Kimihiro's right leg up onto his broad shoulder and lowered his head. Something hot and wet began to stroke against Kimihiro's balls.

That actually felt kind of interesting, if almost ticklish.

Doumeki's mouth went lower, into the crack of his ass, and then straight onto his...

Kimihiro squeaked in alarm and pulled his knee higher in an attempt to pull his...himself out of reach. "Oi! Where are you putting your mouth?"

Doumeki merely lifted Kimihiro's other leg to his shoulder and dove back under. "It's called rimming." His tongue began to stroke all around and across Kimihiro's anus very deliberately, wetting it thoroughly.

It felt disgustingly...exciting. Kimihiro's face burned and he writhed. "Stop that! Stop that right now! That's dirty!"

Doumeki snorted and held Kimihiro firmly. "It's clean. You showered." His tongue wriggled and applied pressure. Then it slipped in--and moved around _inside_.

_Tingles_... Deliciously carnal _tingles_ danced around Kimihiro's anus to feather up into his balls. Kimihiro gasped and moaned. His back arched and his toes curled. Then, to his great shame, his body actually opened to let Doumeki further in.

Suddenly there was something else besides Doumeki's tongue in there.

Kimihiro yelped, in surprise. It didn't hurt, but it definitely felt strange. In fact, it felt like... "Is that your...?"

Doumeki released a soft chuckle. "Yes, it's my finger."

Kimihiro lifted his head to glare at the pushy, selfish, _molesting_, bastard. Well, as much of a glare as he could muster while writhing in carnal heat. "Take it out!" Unfortunately, his voice came out just a bit too high and breathy.

Doumeki's head lifted to eye Kimihiro with a raised brow. He did not remove his finger. "Does it hurt?"

Kimihiro clenched his teeth and worked to steady his voice. "It feels weird--and it's dirty!" It was also rather _stimulating_, but there was no way in hell he'd admit to that.

Doumeki's eyes narrowed and his smile sharpened. "How about this?" A second finger joined the first, pushing the snug opening wider.

A sharp and extremely intimate ache made Kimihiro suck in his breath and throw back his head. He closed his eyes and spoke in a tight voice. "Yes, _that_ hurts."

Doumeki immediately lowered his head and began to apply his tongue--bringing back those insanely exciting tingles. Then he started scissoring his fingers, encouraging the tight muscles to spread wider.

Unfortunately, it worked. The ache disappeared. Kimihiro's breath whooshed out of him in a loud relieved sigh. However, the ache was replaced by the strangest of sensations. The closest he could describe it was like a tickling that wasn't a tickling. It wasn't bad, but Kimihiro couldn't say it was good either.

Doumeki's tongue continued to dance. Suddenly, a third finger was insinuated into Kimihiro's ass.

The tight ache returned. Kimihiro gasped and arched back again. However, his body obligingly opened further, so the ache left fairly quickly. However, the feeling of _fullness_ in his butt wasn't exactly what he'd call comfortable.

The fingers curled and pressed against...something.

Deep in Kimihiro's ass, fierce electrical ecstasy pulsed. The delicious burn burst throughout his entire pelvic region, up his spine and into the back of his skull to whitewash his brain. His eyes opened wide, his head flew back, his body arched, and his toes curled. His cock went violently hard and a spat of cum spilled out. A completely unintentional cry of astonished pleasure burst from his throat.

Doumeki's smile was positively feral.

Trembling in the aftermath of almost cumming, Kimihiro blinked in confusion. He'd never felt anything even remotely like it before. "What was_ that_?"

"You're ready." Doumeki pressed that place again.

An electrical charge of raw pleasure spilled through him again. Kimihiro arched and cried out again. He writhed to prolong it, but the charge left him even faster than before. Trembling in the aftermath, he realized to his complete mortification that despite the fact that it was happening in his _ass_, he wanted _more_. Then he realized that Doumeki had said something. "Wait, what? Ready for what?"

Doumeki withdrew his fingers. "For me."

Kimihiro couldn't quite hold back a small whimper of disappointment. Without Doumeki's fingers, his butt suddenly felt...empty.

Doumeki sat up higher on his knees and pushed the front of his pants down.

Suddenly something was again pressing against Kimihiro's abused anus--something that _wasn't_ a finger. It was too big and broad, and _hot_. It was also slick with oil. Kimihiro sucked in a frightened breath. _Is that his...?_ "Doumeki?"

Doumeki met his gaze. "Push out." He pushed--hard.

Kimihiro's body opened to the invasion with surprising ease. Kimihiro stiffened in shock. _Holy gods, that IS his dick...! _He yanked on the sash that bound him, trying to pull away from it. _I'm not a girl, damn it_! His body started to close around the invader. A sharp ache forced a small cry of pain from Kimihiro's lips. "Hurts..."

Doumeki's fingers bit into Kimihiro's up-raised leg and his lip curled in a snarl. "I said, push out! Do it!"

Desperate to stop the far too intimate pain, Kimihiro pushed out, forcing his body to open. The ache left almost immediately. He released a soft sigh of relief.

"Good." Doumeki pushed again shoving something thick, hot, slick, and insanely _hard_ deep into Kimihiro's butt. His eyes closed and he groaned. "Tight..."

Kimihiro closed his eyes, desperately wishing he were someplace else, preferably, at home, in bed--alone. However, there was no escaping the feeling of being spread open, of being filled, of being taken. His eyes watered and a small sound of regret whimpered in his throat.

Doumeki's hips made contact with Kimihiro's ass. He groaned long and hard. "Finally..." He sucked in a breath. "I have you."

Kimihiro panted in discomfort and spoke in a very small voice. "But, I don't want to be--had." He writhed just a bit, looking for some sort of comfortable position.

Doumeki gasped and grabbed onto Kimihiro's thighs. "Don't move!"

"It's...tight." An understatement; he felt positively bursting at the seams. Kimihiro writhed just a bit more.

Doumeki hissed and his fingers bit into Kimihiro's thighs with bruising force. "Don't move or I'll cum!"

Annoyance sparked and Kimihiro's eyes snapped open. "Isn't that what you _want_ to do? Cum? Isn't that the whole point of this?"

Doumeki's jaw tightened and his gaze narrowed. "The point is to make _you_ cum, preferably screaming."

Kimihiro stiffened, then snarled. "Then why is your dick in my ass?" The son of a bitch hadn't even taken his pants off!

Doumeki snarled right back. "To do this!" He withdrew a small amount then shoved back in--and slammed directly into _that spot_.

Electrical ecstasy tinged with the ache of having something violently hard where nothing had ever been exploded within Kimihiro right behind his balls. It was far more powerful than before. The charge resonated throughout his entire body, arching his spine hard, white-washing his brain, and driving a raw cry from his throat.

Doumeki pulled back further. With a grunt of effort, he drove back in even harder.

Kimihiro didn't even have the chance to recover from the first when the next explosion of brutal pleasure slammed into him. His toes curled hard and another cry burst from his throat while tears slipped from his eyes unnoticed.

Doumeki ground in deep and growled. "You will cum. I will _make_ you cum." He leaned over Kimihiro's body, setting his hands on either side of the slender boy's chest. "I will make you cum for _me_."

Kimihiro opened his eyes and looked up at the larger boy. "Doumeki, please..."

Doumeki's lip curled and his eyes narrowed. "Shizuka, my name is Shizuka." He pulled back and slammed in, then again, and again...

Kimihiro threw his head back and cried out. His legs locked around Doumeki's hips without conscious thought. For an agonizing eternity, violent pleasure burned through his body, over and over, coiling tighter and tighter behind his balls.

Grunting with effort, Doumeki rocked over him, his hips slapping against Kimihiro's ass, his cock pistoning out and then into his anus to deliver fierce bursts of raw delight. Sweat rolled down his skin and dripped.

Kimihiro opened his eyes and found the sight of Doumeki sweating and straining over him--all those muscles bunching and flexing--unbearably _exciting_. Something inside him came forth, something wanton and animalistic. Something greedy for the pleasure Doumeki was delivering with each pounding blow, something that thoroughly enjoyed being taken--being fucked. Something hungrily determined to reach climax despite--everything. Something that made him lift his hips to meet Doumeki's thrusts.

Doumeki groaned and shuddered. "God... God... So good... Ah!" He stiffened, then pushed forward, nearly folding Kimihiro in half, to take his mouth in a rough kiss.

Too far gone in his haze of pleasure to care, Kimihiro opened his mouth to accept Doumeki's tongue, and teeth. However, deep in his ass he could feel Doumeki's cock throbbing. Something hot and wet was being pumped into him. The slippery fluid began to spill past the cock that stretched him and slid down his ass. Doumeki had cum--but he was still hard.

A hand closed around Kimihiro's cock and began to pump.

Kimihiro moaned into Doumeki's mouth.

Doumeki broke the kiss and spoke in a hoarse voice. "Cum for me, Kimihiro." He ground deep into Kimihiro's ass, striking that spot perfectly.

The electrical charge of violent pleasure combined with the hand stoking his far too sensitive cock was his undoing. The tightness behind his balls exploded, driving a scream from his lips even as his balls unloaded, spurting cum all over Doumeki's hand and both their bellies.

His mind white-washed with violent rapture--and horror. _I came. _He blinked up at the distance ceiling, the echoes of his scream still in his ears. _I came from being fucked up the ass by a man_--_by Doumeki._

~ * ~


	12. Chapter 12

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence, and non-consensual seduction.

_**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

**_

Doumeki withdrew from Kimihiro's body and rose to sit at the slender boy's side. He leaned over to press a kiss to Kimihiro's lips then tugged up his pants.

Completely limp and twitching in a haze of exhaustion and passing euphoria, Kimihiro barely noticed. Even the cum sliding from his ass to spill all over the scarlet robe was of little interest.

The sash around his wrists was unwound and pulled free. His numb and chilled arms were rubbed. Doumeki left only to return with a bowl of warm water and a cloth. Gently, he pulled the stained robe out from under Kimihiro and proceeded to wash him.

Kimihiro closed his eyes. He just couldn't bring forth the effort to care.

Doumeki carried away the bowl then returned again. He slid his pants off and sat down on Kimihiro's right side. He drew up the blanket to cover them both.

Kimihiro rolled away to curl up into himself.

Doumeki lay down and pressed up against Kimihiro's back. He set an arm over the slender boy's waist, drawing him back into the curve of his body.

Kimihiro didn't resist. He held perfectly still under Doumeki's arm, his eyes wide open yet seeing nothing.

Doumeki leaned close and pressed a kiss to Kimihiro's brow. "I'll take good care of you. I swear it."

Kimihiro blinked into sudden awareness. _What?_ His voice, hoarse from his cries, came out in a whisper. "But I want to take care of _myself_."

Doumeki's arms tightened around Kimihiro. "You can't. You need a protector. Even Yuuko knows that."

Kimihiro stiffened and took a deep breath to speak a little louder. "I want to protect myself." Something else occurred to him, besides the wetness leaking from his...body. "I thought your intentions were _honorable_?"

Doumeki sighed against the back of his neck. "They are. I put the adoption papers together for you last year. You only need to stamp it with your seal--"

Kimihiro's eyes widened. "Adoption...?"

"Adoption is how men marry men.

Kimihiro's eyes narrowed. "You're actually planning to marry, err...adopt me?"

"My great-uncle's cottage on the far side of the garden has already been cleaned. I'll have it ready for you to move into tomorrow."

"Wait..." Kimihiro turned over to look at Doumeki. "Move? Here on the temple grounds?"

Doumeki's eyes narrowed slightly. "Now that I have you, do you honestly think I'll let you leave?"

Kimihiro bared his teeth_. Of all the nerve_...! "You _can't_ keep me here. What are you going to do, tie me up again?"

Doumeki's arm tightened and his voice dropped to a bass growl. "If I have to."

Kimihiro shook his head in confusion. This was insane! Doumeki was insane! He dredged his mind for something--anything to drive some sense into the big, insufferable, molesting, brute's head. "You can't marry...err, adopt me. You're the heir to the temple. You have to marry a woman to have kids to inherit."

Doumeki looked away and shrugged slightly. "She'll live in the house. You'll have the cottage." He looked back at Kimihiro. "That's how grandfather did it."

_Grandfather...?_ Kimihiro's mouth fell open. "Your grandfather--Haruka-san, had a wife _and_ a lover, a _male_ lover?"

Doumeki's mouth curved into one of his slight smiles. "My great uncle."

Kimihiro blinked. "Oh..." _Was __**that**__ what he meant when he told Yuuko that he was following the family tradition_? He shook his head sharply. "I can't be your kept lover. I have school plus I work and live with Yuuko-san."

Doumeki grabbed onto Kimihiro's shoulder and shoved him flat onto his back. "Your not hers anymore; you're _mine_."

Kimihiro shoved at Doumeki's shoulders. "Get off me, you molesting bastard!" It was like shoving against a tree--a heavy tree. He couldn't budge him. "I am _not_ yours! I'm not anybody's...!"

"Is that so?" Viper quick, Doumeki's hand snaked under the blankets to delve between Kimihiro's legs, then under into the crack of Kimihiro's butt. Two fingers slid right past the ring of Kimihiro's anus and burrowed deep.

Kimihiro gasped and grabbed for Doumeki's wrist. "What the_ fuck_ are you doing?"

Doumeki grinned broadly. "That's twice you've said 'fuck'."

"I don't give a shit what I said!" Kimihiro tugged on the offensive arm. "Get out of there!"

Doumeki withdrew his hand and held his fingers up before Kimihiro's face. They were dripping with clear viscous liquid--his cum.

Kimihiro cringed back.

"This--" Doumeki's eyes narrowed to cold brass slits. He rubbed his fingers together, smearing the sticky substance. "_This _says you belong to me."

Cold anger burned down Kimihiro's back. He spoke calmly and evenly through his clenched teeth. "This isn't the Edo era, you ass. _That_ says we had sex. Nothing else."

Doumeki growled deep in his chest. "You're not leaving, Kimihiro."

Kimihiro growled right back. _How dare he use my given name_! "You can't keep me here, _Doumeki_."

Doumeki's lip curled in a snarl. "I can, and I will." He jerked the blanket off them both, then with a hard tug, he shoved Kimihiro all the way over onto his belly.

Kimihiro squeaked in surprise and grabbed onto the futon. "What are you doing now, you pushy bastard?"

Doumeki sat astride Kimihiro's legs then leaned over Kimihiro's back and pinned the slender boy with one hand on Kimihiro's shoulder. "Making my point."

Kimihiro felt something hard and hot sliding up between his thighs to press against his anus. He stiffened in shock. _That's his_... "No, damn it! Stop that!" He bucked and twisted, but was too firmly pinned by Doumeki's legs and arms. "You are not doing..._that_ again!"

"Stop me." His cock slid right past the lax ring and up into Kimihiro's ass.

Kimihiro grabbed onto the futon and whimpered in mortification. _Not again! Not this again_!

Doumeki sheathed himself fully and groaned. "You're still full of cum. It shouldn't hurt."

It didn't hurt at all, but that wasn't the point! Kimihiro reached back to dig his fingers into Doumeki's thigh. "Get off of me!"

Doumeki captured both of Kimihiro's wrists and pinned them to the futon by Kimihiro's head. "I'll make sure you cum." He pulled back and thrust--hard.

Electrical ecstasy burned in Kimihiro's vitals. He twisted and cried out. His cock came to sudden urgent life between his belly and the futon so fast that it made his head go light.

Above him, Doumeki began to thrust in a hard measured rhythm.

Kimihiro could only writhe and cry out under the onslaught of brutal pleasure.

Without hesitating in his thrusts, Doumeki chuckled against his neck. "You like it. Admit it, you like being fucked."

Kimihiro could barely string two thoughts together, never mind two words together to answer him--not that he wanted to. However, the truth was he _did_ like it. Doumeki was damned good at...this. What he _didn't_ like was that it was being forced on him. It wasn't happening because he'd invited it. It was happening because Doumeki was being a domineering and possessive ass.

Doumeki abruptly released Kimihiro's wrists and pulled completely out of Kimihiro's body to sit up on his knees. With a grunt, he jerked Kimihiro's hips up from the futon.

Startled into balancing on his forearms, Kimihiro dug his fingers into the futon. "What...?"

"Repositioning." Doumeki jammed his legs between Kimihiro's, spreading the slender boy's thighs wide, then pushed back in.

Kimihiro gasped. The brute was deeper than before, and cruelly hard.

With a hand on Kimihiro's hip and the other on the slender boy's shoulder, Doumeki proceeded to jerk the far more slender boy back into his thrusts.

Lightning erupted in Kimihiro's vitals forcing loud cries from his throat. Doumeki wasn't just hitting that place, he was sawing back and forth against it, doubling the intensity. Without thought, he bucked back to meet Doumeki's thrusts and shouted his voice raw.

Abruptly, Doumeki stiffened then slammed in deep, holding Kimihiro firmly in place. He groaned.

Kimihiro panted for breath and felt Doumeki's cock pulsing within him, jetting cum into his bowels. Once again, he remained hard.

Doumeki collapsed back to sit on the futon with a grunt, taking Kimihiro with him without withdrawing. He arranged the slender boy's legs wide, but folded under, sitting him astride his lap facing the wall of books.

Panting from exhaustion, Kimihiro was just too damned tired to fight him and damn it, he still hadn't cum.

With a kiss to Kimihiro's shoulder, he reached around to Kimihiro's neglected cock and began to stroke.

Kimihiro groaned and arched. Doumeki's stroking hand felt good, but it wasn't enough. He writhed around on Doumeki's lap, and somehow ended up rising on his knees.

Doumeki pressed a hand under Kimihiro's ass and whispered in his ear. "That's it, ride me. Make yourself cum."

Too close to climax to care what it took to cum, he grabbed onto Doumeki's thighs and pushed up, then fell on the hard cock within him. A hard pang of pleasure spilled through him. He moaned. That worked, but not quite enough. He rose a little higher and fell a little faster. Ecstasy burned up his spine. _Much better._ He pushed up and dropped over and over, setting a hard though slow rhythm.

Doumeki began to stroke in time with it.

After an eternity, that was probably really only a minute, Kimihiro's body reached the precipice and fell over into the maelstrom. He threw back his head and howled with a voice gone hoarse while jet after jet of cum spurted over Doumeki's hand.

Doumeki caught Kimihiro under the chin and turned his head to take his mouth in a deep and thorough kiss, swallowing the last of the slender boy's cries.

Released from Doumeki's kiss, Kimihiro collapsed back against the larger boy's shoulder panting, utterly spent, and thoroughly disgusted with himself. He'd given in far too easily. Doumeki was just too damned good at...this...to resist.

With a sigh, Doumeki eased Kimihiro down onto the futon and left, walking away completely naked.

Kimihiro couldn't help but notice exactly how fine Doumeki's muscular butt really was.

Doumeki returned with yet another bowl of steaming water and a cloth. He knelt at Kimihiro's side. "Lay on your side so I can wash you."

Burning with embarrassment, Kimihiro scowled and pushed to sit up. "I'm not a baby, I can clean myself." His ass protested--loudly. He winced and turned to the side, but that hurt too.

Doumeki snorted. "I doubt you can even stand."

Kimihiro curled his lip, baring his teeth. "I can too stand!"

Doumeki's lips curved into a pronounced smirk. "I wouldn't try it."

Kimihiro rolled onto his knees--that hurt less, and pushed with his hands to rise. His knees refused to obey. He sucked in a startled breath.

"I told you." Doumeki shoved Kimihiro's shoulder pushing him onto his side, facing away from him. "You'll get used to it, eventually." He began washing Kimihiro's ass, then thighs.

Kimihiro's face burned with mortification. "I don't _want_ to get used to it!"

Doumeki kept sliding the warm wet cloth in embarrassing places. "In the morning, I'll bring you a fresh robe. On your back please."

Kimihiro rolled onto his back and aimed a glare at his tormentor. "No thank you, I have clothes."

Doumeki washed Kimihiro's belly and flaccid cock without batting an eye. "You'll see those clothes again after you sign the adoption papers."

Kimihiro's mouth fell open. _Blackmail_? "You wouldn't...!"

Doumeki dropped the soiled cloth into the bowl and gave Kimihiro a flat blank look. "My parents already know that you'll be taking over uncle's cottage. They were expecting you after graduation, but I'm sure they'll understand." He rose to his feet.

Kimihiro shook his head in confusion. "Wait, you're parents know about me?" He clenched his jaw. "Do they know you want me as your live-in lover?"

Doumeki turned to the side, looking away. "They know what uncle's cottage is for." He stepped away. "The kimonos I had made for you should be delivered sometime tomorrow afternoon."

Kimihiro pushed up onto his elbows. "Kimonos...? You had kimono's _made_ for me?"

Doumeki shrugged. "They look good on you." He started to walk away. "And they're easier to get off of you."

Kimihiro wanted to shout after the bastard. He wanted to scream. He wanted to throw the mother of all temper-tantrums, but he was just too damned tired and his throat hurt. Even worse, his bladder was starting to complain.

Unfortunately, he couldn't walk which meant he'd have to ask for help.

When Doumeki returned, Kimihiro bit the bullet. "I need to go to the bathroom."

Doumeki obligingly lifted Kimihiro up onto his feet, then swept him into his arms like a princess.

Kimihiro stiffened. "Oi! I'm not a girl. Quit treating me like one."

Doumeki snorted and carried Kimihiro exactly as he had him to the bathroom--and the toilet. The good news was that it wasn't one of the old-fashioned troughs in the floor toilet but a western flushing toilet. The bad news was that Doumeki didn't leave. In fact, he stared.

Kimihiro closed his legs together and cringed. "Do you mind?"

Doumeki folded his arms and leaned against the doorway with a slight smirk. "Nope, I don't mind at all."

Kimihiro fisted his hands on his thighs. "I can't pee with you watching me!"

Doumeki sighed and turned around.

Kimihiro did his business. The clean up was painfully embarrassing. His body had decided to...void what was in his bowels. Finally finished, he automatically went to stand. Sadly, his knees still weren't working. In fact, his legs started trembling too. "Damn it!"

Doumeki turned around. "Done?"

Kimihiro crossed his arms over his meager chest and looked away. "Yes."

Doumeki lifted Kimihiro just as he had before and carried the silently fuming slender boy to the futon. After sitting on Kimihiro's right side, again, he tugged the blanket up around them both and drew Kimihiro down and under his arm.

Kimihiro stared at the far wall of books wondering how the hell he was going to get himself out of _this_ mess. The one person who was supposed to protect him--who had always protected him, had become his captor. Strangely, tears began to streak down his cheeks and his breath tried to hitch. He took in deep slow breaths to keep from making a sound.

Time passed and nothing came to mind. Eventually, sleep crept up and tugged him under.

After what felt like only two hours of rest, Kimihiro awoke to the feeling Doumeki's arm tightening around his waist--and his cock prodding at his backside.

Kimihiro groaned and pulled away. _Does his cock ever go to sleep_?

Doumeki's arm slid from Kimihiro's waist, only to press a hand between his thighs to push Kimihiro's leg up then pulled it back and over Doumeki's hip.

Still more than a little groggy, Kimihiro turned to look over at Doumeki. "What...?"

Doumeki took that moment to slide into Kimihiro's still pliant body.

Kimihiro gasped, suddenly very wide awake--and very full.

Doumeki looped his arm back around Kimihiro's waist and proceeded to rock into the slender boy with a slow deep rhythm.

To Kimihiro's shock, his body began to coil and heat in response. Despite the odd angle, Doumeki's cock rubbed him in exactly the right place. He bit his lip, but the moan still escaped.

Doumeki's hand slid down to stroke his cock.

Kimihiro shuddered and gripped the futon mattress to buck back to meet Doumeki's cock. He was going to cum, and fast.

Doumeki groaned in Kimihiro's ear. "Cum for me."

Kimihiro stiffened and to his complete surprise, his body slammed straight into a sudden and violent climax. He didn't have the breath to release more than a breathy moan.

Doumeki groaned. "Mmm... Yes." He suddenly sped up into a pounding rhythm. After only about a dozen strokes, he stiffened. His arm tightened around Kimihiro and he slammed in deep. His cock pulsed in Kimihiro's ass, filling it to overflowing.

Kimihiro gasped for breath and trembled in the aftermath. _Again, I let him...do me, again_. And this time, he didn't even offer a token protest. He closed his eyes and turned his face into the mattress. _What is wrong with me_?

Doumeki rose from the futon and picked up his strewn clothes. "I'll be back with breakfast in an hour. Chores first."

Kimihiro blinked. "It's morning? Already?"

Doumeki stepped into his pants. "For me. You can sleep for another hour."

Kimihiro struggled to sit up. His ass was _not_ happy with him. He did it anyway. "I want to go home--to Yuuko's house."

Doumeki turned his back and slid on his shirt. "I'll take you to the cottage this afternoon. The furniture is already there. I just need to get linens and towels brought in." He tied the shirt closed and tucked it into his pleated _hakima_ pants.

Kimihiro bared his teeth. "Did you hear me? I want to go back! Today!"

Doumeki turned a narrow brass glare on Kimihiro. "You're staying here--where it's safe for you. No spirits can come on this property with out an invitation.'

Kimihiro bunched the blanket in his fists. "You are not my owner!"

Doumeki strode past the futon towards the door. "I'll see you in an hour." He opened the far door and left.

Kimihiro stared at the wide open door. _Bastard_! Kimihiro rolled onto his knees and suddenly realized why Doumeki had wanted to...have sex right then. His butt _really_ hurt. In fact, his entire lower back throbbed. Walking would be agony.

Kimihiro took a deep breath and yanked up the blanket. Agony or not, he was going out that damned open door.

He set one foot under him and struggled to rise. It hurt like fucking hell. Forget his knees; his back didn't want to work at all. It took grabbing onto the bookshelves, but he got on his feet--and collected his glasses while he was at it. Leaning against the shelves, he tied the blanket around his hips and eyed the door. What Doumeki seemed to have forgotten was that he had suffered a great deal from monsters that had plagued him--and for years, many of them actually riding on his back. Walking across one small library wouldn't be pleasant, but he would manage it.

Keeping a firm hold of the shelves, Kimihiro set one foot in front to the other and walked. It _was_ agony, but that wasn't going to stop him.

After an eternity that had him gasping for breath and whimpering slightly, he made it to the open door. Now all he had to do was walk of the grounds, then several blocks to Yuuko's place.

Kimihiro very nearly collapsed right there. He sucked in a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.

"Ready to come home?" The voice was feminine, sultry and breathtakingly familiar.

Kimihiro turned to his left.

Leaning against the library wall was cinnamon-eyed Yuuko dressed in tight black slacks and wearing a snug low-cut red t-shirt. Her knee-length midnight hair was drawn back into an insanely long pony-tail.

It was the most welcoming sight he'd seen in ages. He smiled through the pain. "Yes, ma'am."

She smiled with red-tinted lips. "Good." She turned to the side and waved a hand. "I even brought you a robe, and a ride."

A tall, painfully slender man with stark yet delicate features and sharply slanted black eyes stepped around the corner. His blue-black hair was combed back from the sharp widow's peak of his brow and in defiance of gravity, the ragged tails of it swept straight back as though he stood in a strong wind. He wore a long black coat belted at the waist and his black boots gleamed with polish. Over his arm, he held a long length of midnight blue cloth.

Yuuko nodded toward the young man. "Watanuki, this is Az." She turned to the young man and smiled. "Az, this is my Watanuki. Please be gentle with him."

The man's sharply arched brows rose. "This is the price for my wish, I presume?"

Yuuko nodded. "You presume correctly. You're to carry him back to my place."

The young man grinned. "He's lovely. It will be my pleasure."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Is _everyone_ a pervert?"

Yuuko lifted a hand to laugh behind it. "I don't know about everyone, but Az definitely is."

The young man pushed out his bottom lip in a pout. "My dear Yuuko, my tastes are not perverted." He smiled rather slyly. "They're perfectly acceptable where I come from."

"Oh, I'm sure." Yuuko looked to the side and slanted her gaze at him. "But not everyone is a duke of Hell."

Kimihiro refused to take the oh-so-obvious bait. He held out his hand. "May I have that robe, please? My blanket is slipping."

Az obligingly opened the robe revealing that it was richly embroidered in black and silver thread with night-cranes--and had near ground-sweeping sleeves.

Kimihiro sighed. _A woman's robe. Why am I not surprised_? Still, it was better than a blanket. Gripping the doorway firmly, Kimihiro turned around to set one arm in one of the long draping sleeves.

Az stepped in close to assist Kimihiro into getting the other sleeve on.

Kimihiro couldn't help but notice that there was a slight scent of clove incense and burning matches--sulfur--drifting from the young man, and that his ears were sharply pointed. He tugged the robe closed and loosened the knot to the blanket, letting it slip to the ground. He turned around to face Yuuko.

Yuuko held out a bright blue sash that was far wider than it needed to be, and smiled.

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Yuuko-san, I can not tie an _obi_ that's that wide."

"That's okay." Yuuko stepped close and smiled. "I'll do it for you." She stepped behind Kimihiro and wrapped the obscenely broad sash snuggly around him. It covered him from his ribs to his hips. She then tied it into a huge bow that very nearly went to the ground. She stepped out from behind Kimihiro and patted his cheek. "It suits you."

Kimihiro lowered his brows but couldn't quite summon up a proper glare. "You always think women's clothes suit me."

Az frowned. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with her. It looks very flattering on you."

Kimihiro turned his half glare on the young man. "Don't you start too."

Yuuko suddenly looked over her shoulder. "I'm afraid we're out of time." She turned to smile at the young man. "Az, would you mind...?"

Az grinned, showing fangs. "Not at all." He stepped up to Kimihiro, leaned down, and lifted him into his arms--like a child.

Kimihiro was too worn out to even protest the 'princess hold'. He looped his arms around Az's neck. "Thank you for doing this."

Az's fingers somehow wormed their way against the curve of Kimihiro's bottom. "My pleasure, really."

Kimihiro's gaze narrowed. "Remove that hand or I'm going to remove one of your pointy ears." He was not in the mood to play.

Az ducked his head and slid his hand back under Kimihiro's knees. "My apologies." He smiled flashing fangs once again then sighed out a long breath. A pair of huge bat wings opened and a long slender tail uncoiled from under his coat.

_What the..._? Kimihiro darted an alarmed look at Yuuko.

Yuuko smiled and wiggled her fingers. "He really is a duke of Hell."

Kimihiro looked over at Az's not quite human face, so very close to his. _He's a ...demon_?

Az chuckled. "Yes, I'm a demon. Shall we go?" He jumped straight up into the air and carried Kimihiro away.

~ * ~


	13. Chapter 13

**Kitsune Bi - **_An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction  
_By Ookami Kasumi

**All characters property of ****CLAMP  
**_**Warning:**_ Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

_**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

**_

Carrying Kimihiro in his arms, Az landed gently. "Where here. You can open your eyes now."

Kimihiro loosened his arms around the demon's neck and opened his eyes. They were on Yuuko's front lawn, right in front of her doors. "I just don't like heights, much." Something about the sky suddenly caught his eye. The low-hanging clouds were stained with orange and scarlet as though the sun were setting. _That's...weird_. The sky had been blue and practically cloudless when they took off.

The black-haired, black-eyed, pointy-eared demon smiled briefly. "Fear of heights is perfectly understandable for anyone not born with wings." Az's monstrous bat-wings folded against the back of his long black coat and quite literally, evaporated. However his long spear-headed tail remained. Then, to Kimihiro's complete and utter surprise, he pulled open one of the front doors and carried Kimihiro right in.

Kimihiro frowned. _Shouldn't there be wards around the house to keep people like him--demons, out?_

Az didn't stop to take off his boots. He simply stepped up onto the main floor and thunked down the long hall. He eyed Kimihiro. "You're surprised I was able to walk in?"

Kimihiro didn't quite wince at the demon's perceptiveness. Then he remembered what Yuuko had said. "You have a wish, right? The house lets people in if they have a wish." His brow lifted. "However, you _are_ supposed to take off your shoes at the door."

Az looked away. "I'm afraid that taking off my shoes isn't exactly possible." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "The boots I'm wearing are an illusion."

Kimihiro couldn't help but lean over to look down.

Az's gleaming boots dissolved into a pair of shiny black goat's hooves that clip-clopped as he walked.

Kimihiro looked up at Az. "I...see."

The demon smiled tightly. "What? No screaming?"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "Not hardly. I've seen _far_ stranger things than goat feet or bat-wings." _Or fangs, pointed ears, and long snaky tails_... He folded his arms across his chest and lifted his slender brow. "By the way, you can put me down now."

Az grinned. "I'm just bringing you to the bath Yuuko prepared for you." He took a sharp left and elbowed open a sliding door.

The room revealed was Yuuko's personal bathing chamber with its monstrous oval in-ground tub of white marble surrounded by smoked mirrors and two large teak and rice-paper folding screens. The cream and timber walls were draped in huge silk paintings of mountains and forests--and butterflies. In fact, butterflies were everywhere from the decanters holding soaps and salts to the small crystal figurines on the long counter for the fluted marble sink. Even the brass spigots on the tub were butterflies.

As for the tub, it was full practically to the brim and white with curling steam. Herbs and creamy white flower petals floated in the water. It looked utterly _wonderful_.

Kimihiro blinked. "Oh, wow..."

"The salts and herbs will help with the bruising." Az carried Kimihiro to the tub's edge and let him down with a smile. "I watched Yuuko put them in."

Kimihiro's knees still weren't working properly. He grabbed onto Az's upper arm sleeve to keep from plunging into the water. "Bruising?"

Az snorted. "You didn't notice?" He tugged the bright blue sash's bow on Kimihiro's back free, then and drew the sash away before it could fall into the water. "You're covered in hand and finger bruises. Your wrists in particular." He caught Kimihiro's hand in his black-clawed fingers and turned it up to reveal the vivid red and purple marks on his wrists. "Those looks like rope burns."

Kimihiro stared at the livid marks made from being bound to the wall. "A sash, actually." His heart dropped into his stomach and his eyes began to burn. "He said he loved me."

Az released Kimihiro's hand to roll Yuuko's sash over his arm. All humor left his face. "He probably does."

Kimihiro blinked. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to involve you."

Az shrugged. "Feel free to say what's on your mind. In fact, consider me a neutral party. Someone not involved with either of you." He smiled and flashed one of his fangs. "_I_ certainly won't judge you."

Kimihiro took a deep steadying breath and reached up under his arms to tug the robe's ties free. "That's just it. I don't even know _what's_ on my mind." The truth actually. He wasn't quite sure _what_ he was feeling. There were too many feelings writhing around in his heart and head to pick one from the next. So many in fact, that he sort of felt left in neutral.

Az took hold of the upper edge of the midnight blue robe and tugged it from Kimihiro's shoulders.

Kimihiro grabbed the lapels to keep the robe where it was--covering him, and darted a suspicious glare at the demon. "What are you doing?"

Az dramatically flinched back and raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. "I swear on my pointy ears that I don't want you ripping off, that I am merely helping you into the bath."

Kimihiro lifted a brow and clenched his teeth. Sadly, he really did need the help. "No touching."

Az nodded and his smile widened, though strangely none of his fangs showed. "No uninvited touching, agreed." He stepped forward and took hold of the robe by the shoulders to draw it from Kimihiro's body with out a single clawed finger brushing Kimihiro's skin.

Utterly naked, Kimihiro folded his arms across his chest and eyed the demon. "Aren't you supposed to be a duke? Isn't helping someone with a bath a little...beneath you?"

Az rolled his eyes and folded the robe over his arm. "Believe me, I have done far more menial things--in fact, disgusting things, even as a duke."

Without support, Kimihiro's legs began to tremble and he wobbled off balance. He automatically reached out for Az's sleeve.

Az caught Kimihiro under the elbow. "I've got you."

Kimihiro nodded and gave a small smile. "Thanks."

Az turned Kimihiro toward the tub's edge, and the steps leading down into the water, then grasped him by the hand. "In you go."

Holding on to Az's hand, Kimihiro stepped over the rim and set his foot on the first step in the tub. The water was luxuriously warm--the perfect temperature. He stepped further into the water.

Az hunched down on his furry goat legs to extend his reach. "To get back to what's on your mind, well, you're definitely angry."

Kimihiro reached the bottom and frowned up at the demon. "How did you...?"

Az snorted. "It's written all over your body language. The way you're holding yourself, the look in your eye."

"Oh..." Waist deep in the water, Kimihiro took hold of the rim while thinking about what he was feeling. Anger was definitely there, and disappointment. He sat down to lean against the curved back. The heat of the water soaked into his abused muscles and drew out the tension and soreness almost on contact. He meant to sigh in bliss, but it came out a growl. He glared at the perfectly innocent water. "How can someone that loves me do..." Memories surged forward. Kimihiro stamped them down ruthlessly and shook his head. "--That?"

Az moved from the side of the tub to set the robe and sash on the marble counter by the sink. "Love makes people do many senseless things, especially when they're afraid that their beloved doesn't love them back."

_"You _do_ love me. Don't you?"_

Kimihiro winced then scowled up at the demon. "Are you saying that this is _my_ fault?"

"Not at all." The demon collected a pair of fluffy gold towels from the cabinet under the sink. "I'm saying that perhaps that is _his_ reason for...doing such a thing." He turned toward Kimihiro. "_Do_ you love him?"

Kimihiro stared at the water. Did he? _Could_ he, after what happened? What _was_ this mess churning in his heart? Was that love? He shook his head. "I'm not even sure what love is."

Az sat down by the edge of the tub. "Love is actually quite simple."

Kimihiro looked up sharply at the black-eyed demon. "Simple...?"

Az nodded. "Courtship--romance, if you will, _is_ complicated, but love itself is very simple." He smiled. "Love is when the other person's happiness means more than your own."

Kimihiro tilted his head to the side and lifted a brow. "You're a demon, right? How do _you_ know what love is?"

Az looked away and his lips curled into a bitter smile. "Contrary to popular belief, demons can fall in love just as easily as anyone else." He blew out a soft breath and his voice dropped to a near-whisper. "Not that we know what to do about it when it happens."

Suddenly feeling that he was seeing something he shouldn't, Kimihiro looked down at the water. So the demon was in love. _I wonder if that has anything to do with his wish_? Not that he was going to ask. He wasn't rude enough to pry.

Az suddenly turned to Kimihiro. "So, does Doumeki's happiness mean more than your own?"

_Doumeki's happiness_? Guilt suddenly stabbed Kimihiro right through his heart. _I never even considered_... However, at the same time, a fresh wave of anger hit him too. _I didn't have the __**chance**__ to consider...anything. It all happened too fast!_ The love-letter, the kiss, the confession--sort of confession--the incident in the shower, the fox... He really hadn't had time to think about any of it, never mind think about what Doumeki might have been feeling. _And then...this_. The combination of anger and guilt pounded in his head. Burning tears suddenly slipped down his cheeks to plink into the bath.

Az sighed softly. "I see that it does."

Kimihiro closed his eyes and shook his head sharply. The anger suddenly boiled up his spine and spat out of his mouth. "I _won't_ be kept in a cottage like a _secret_. I don't need that kind of protection! I'm not a pet or a toy. I'm a person! I want to protect myself!"

Az sat back and blinked. "Kept in a cottage? In _this_ era?"

Kimihiro turned to snarl at the demon despite the tears slipping down his cheeks. "I'm _not_ helpless, damn it. I don't want a protector--a keeper. I want a partner! I want to be his equal! I want him to _trust_ me!"

Az smiled gently. "Then make him."

His anger abruptly de-railed, Kimihiro stiffened, his eyes widening. "_Make_ him...?"

Az nodded. "Make him trust you. Do what you need to do, learn what you need to learn and prove that you can protect yourself. Prove you're capable of being his equal, his partner."

Kimihiro frowned at the water. "Learn what I need to learn..."

"Bur first--!" Az lifted a finger and grinned. "Punish him."

A cool wave of absolute calm washed through Kimihiro's heart. His eyes narrowed and a smile curved his lips. "Agreed." He abruptly slumped back in the tub and looked up at the curling steam. "But how?"

Az tilted his head to the side and smiled sweetly. "You could always tie _him_ up and have your way with him?"

Kimihiro cracked a smile in spite of himself. "It's a good thought, but I don't think repeating the same crime is the right way to do things."

Az rolled his gaze away and sighed dramatically. "Pity." His gaze shot back to Kimihiro's. "However, the punishment should fit the crime. That means finding a way to make him feel helpless at the very least, and unable to stop you from doing...whatever, even if it's not seducing him."

Kimihiro nodded firmly. "That makes sense."

The bathroom door slid open and clacked loudly in its frame. "Az, my dear guest..." Yuuko swept into the room, once again in long flowing robes of violet, gold, and black. A slender black brow rose over one cinnamon eye. "I hope you're not planting strange ideas in my Watanuki's head?"

Az frowned deeply and pressed a hand over his heart. "My dearest Yuuko, there is nothing what so ever strange about revenge."

Both of Yuuko's brows lowered over her eyes. "There is if your name is Watanuki." Her gaze shot to Kimihiro.

Kimihiro folded his knees up tight against his body and shot her a glare. "He was planning to keep me there, Yuuko-san, in a cottage he'd already prepared for me. A cottage his parents _already_ _knew_ he was planning to keep me in--and why. He said I couldn't have my clothes back until I signed adoption papers. Adoption papers he'd already had prepared." His teeth began to grind. "He said, he'd make sure I couldn't leave even if he had to tie me up."

Yuuko's shoulders visibly slumped and her gaze dropped. "When we came to get you, Doumeki was planting wards around the edges of temple's grounds--wards with your name on them. They were designed specifically to keep you from passing by them--from leaving."

An icy chill breezed through Kimihiro's heart and his glare evaporated.

Yuuko looked over at him with unsmiling lips. "I had to wait until you left the library on your own to get you because I couldn't enter. I couldn't even look in the doorway and call for you. He'd warded it that strongly against me."

Kimihiro began to tremble and his eyes burned, but no tears fell.

Yuuko approached the tub's rim and folded her robes under her to kneel at the edge. "I had Az carry you off when I did because Doumeki was very near to completing the warding. If you hadn't made it to the library doorway on your own when you did, not even I would have been able to grant you escape."

Kimihiro swallowed the lump in his through and his arms tightened around his upraised knees. "Did you know he would do this?"

Yuuko sighed and looked away. "I knew he planned to protect you. I didn't know he'd try to keep you." She shrugged slightly. "At least, not until you'd graduated high school."

Kimihiro's eyes widened and rage swept through him. "You _knew_ he was planning to keep me _all along_?!"

Yuuko rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath. "By the time you graduated, you'd have more than enough power and training to defeat any ward he'd set, so it was a moot point."

Trembling with fury, Kimihiro's teeth clenched and his eyes narrowed to slits. "I want it. I want it _now_."

Yuuko's brows lifted. "Hmm? Want what?"

Kimihiro grabbed hold of the tub's rim to move close enough to stare directly into Yuuko's eyes. "I want the power and the training to defeat his wards--to protect myself. I _don't _want to wait for graduation. I want it now--_right now_."

Yuuko's lips curved into a sensual smile. "Then I suggest you have another conversation with Senbii-san, the general."

Kimihiro wilted to set his chin on the tub's rim and looked up at her with his best puppy eyes. "Can't _you_ teach me?"

Yuuko sighed. "I wish I could, but what I do isn't quite dream-walking." She smiled sadly. "I can't _make_ doors on the spirit plane, the dream plane, only find them."

Az stiffened where he sat then looked sharply at Yuuko. "Blood and fire, he's a spirit walker?" He frowned at Kimihiro. "No wonder you barely feel mortal. With a power like that, you'd pretty much have to be half spirit yourself."

Yuuko glanced away. "Oh, my Watanuki is quite fully human."

Az snorted. "I never said he wasn't human, only that he's more spirit than mortal."

That was an uncomfortable thought. Kimihiro slumped back to slouch in the tub, his bottom lip protruding in what was _not_ a pout--no matter what anyone said. "Is that what makes me so tasty to other spirits?"

Az grinned. "But of course! One bite of you would make any spirit double in power." He shook his head. "But be that as it may, with a power like that, _nothing_ could keep you out--or in. Not even Hell itself. You could simply make a door and leave any time you liked."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "But I just...show up there. I can't _make_ doors!"

A high-pitched childish voice suddenly called out. "Mokona can!" A small, black, bunny-eared blob abruptly bounced into the bathroom. "Black Mokona can _be_ a door, but White Mokona can _make_ doors!" He bounced to the rim of the tub and abruptly frowned. "But not on the dream-plane, the spirit plane, only on the real plane." His lips twisted sourly. "And only for a short period of time--from here to there, that fast." He twisted his whole body to shake his head, his ears flopping. "She can't make them to stay open."

Something suddenly occurred to Kimihiro. He turned sharply to Yuuko. "Does Doumeki know I left?"

Yuuko drew up her knees and set her chin on them with a smile. "He does. I told him myself."

Kimihiro shuddered, and gripped his knees with whitened fingers. "Crap, he's probably already on his way here."

Yuuko smiled and tilted her head to rest her cheek on her knee. "Oh, I'm sure he's already arrived at the gate, but he won't be coming here. Not to _this_ house anyway." She turned to smile at the demon. "Right, Az?"

Az grinned fully showing upper and lower fangs. "I sincerely doubt _anyone_, never mind that half-priest, will come to this house without _my_ knowledge--or permission." Az turned to smile at Kimihiro. "This may sound strange, but I assure you that it's the absolute truth. Welcome to my little corner of Hell, Watanuki."

Kimihiro's eyes widened as far as they could go. "Eh?" That could _not_ be what that just sounded like. He looked over at Yuuko. "Ehhh?"

Yuuko smiled so sweetly it practically crystallized on her red lips. "You _did_ notice the red sky, did you not? Yes, we are--this house--is literally in Hell." She shrugged. "For a little while, at least."

Az lifted his chin and ran his black-clawed fingers through his midnight hair. "I _am_ a duke, after all."

Yuuko grinned at him. "And _I_ am a time-space sorceress."

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "We're in hell." He curled his lip in a sour smile aimed at Yuuko, and spoke very dryly. "And I didn't even notice the difference. Imagine that."

Yuuko's brows lowered and her smile turned into a pronounced pout. "Hey...!"

~ * ~


End file.
